The Masquerade Ball
by Nyakai
Summary: Sequel to The Labyrinth. Nekozawa knows about Haruhi, and now he's with her daily. The hosts are miffed to no end. Besides the seniors and twins running around scheming, they've got a schoolwide ball to put on. And everyone wants to be Haruhi's date. Uhoh
1. Host Club Threats

**Disclaimer:** I OWN… Kaho. And any other minor characters I may happen to make up, but the hosts, Nekozawa, Renge, Zuka Club or any other peoples that pop up out of nowhere and (may) give you whiplash when you do a double-take (and I am not liable for your injuries, btw), are property of Bisco Hatori. Lucky girl. :( 

**Chapter 1**

_Opening the door, I found… Disney Princes._

Okay, this took the cake. Out of all the silly cosplays they had done, this was definitely the strangest and most unexpected (_Who requested _this?). Tamaki was dressed as Prince Charming, Kyouya as Prince Eric, Mori as Prince Ali and holding Hani who had never looked cuter in a monkey suit as Abu, and the twins were both dressed as Peter Pan.

In all honesty, Haruhi would have been less surprised had they all been dressed as princesses.

"Cutting it close again," drawled Hikaru and Kaoru from across the room. They slithered closer and silently inspected her.

"And how _are_ your meetings with Nekozawa going?" Kyouya asked with mild curiosity. At that, all the hosts' gazes locked onto her. Only the twins were intentionally trying to buffet her with uncomfortably probing stares, but Haruhi did not notice them.

"Fine," she answered simply. Before they could question her further— like she knew they would— the girl turned and headed for the changing room. Her mind was on what her costume could possibly be rather than her persistent clubmates. However, Tamaki's whining was strong enough to recapture her attention.

"Nekozawa doesn't make you do anything… questionable, does he?"

Haruhi stopped and spun to face him. "Questionable? You mean like showing up at my house unannounced or dressing me up in silly costumes or trying to control my _life_?" At the last mention, Kyouya noticed she was pointing at him.

"What do you mean 'trying'?" the vice president quipped. Tamaki blubbered as Haruhi retreated into the changing room. She returned not too long after in a rich blue French dress coat and dark pants, and a ponytail wig.

After the hosts gushed about how cute she loked, Haruhi asked, "Who am I supposed to be?"

"The prince from _Beauty and the Beast_, of course!" Hani chirped.

"We'd be your Belle," chorused the twins with sly grins.

"Who?" Haruhi questioned. Without another word, they carted her off to a random couch to giver her the entire back-story of her character— which they assured her her clients would already know.

By the time their designators flocked in, Haruhi felt like she had seen the movie, but had not been able to dissuade the twins from bringing the actual movie in for her to watch.

She was not fond of musicals.

-----

The day proceeded routinely with Haruhi's designators until the last group, which included Sorimachi Kaho, one of Haruhi's longest clients.

"Haruhi-kun, the labyrinth was so much fun!" Kaho giggled with her face cupped in her hands. "After the Black Magic Club's show, I was kind of afraid of going in it, but you looked _so_ handsome as a satyr!"

"You were a great guide!" another girl in the group added fervently.

All Haruhi could do was modestly laugh off the compliments before Kaho asked, "What will your next project be?"

The only thought running through Haruhi's mind then (since she clearly had no answer) was that she was experiencing an extreme case of déjà vu. But instead of Kyouya descending like a bird of prey, Tamaki appeared at the table in all his Charming-ness (sparkle vision included).

"Princesses," he royally purred, taking the hand of the swooning girl closest to him, "we are finally putting on the masquerade ball, for which we have received an outpouring of requests, and it shall be this academy's first ever school-wide dance!"

As Haruhi's designators squealed with delight, the host was trying to recall this "outpouring." All she could remember was two requests for a masquerade ball— one from Tamaki himself.

----

"I _really wish_ that you'd actually consult me before running off with your fool ideas," sighed a perturbed Kyouya as he flipped through previous notes in his ledger. The rest of the hosts were scattered on random nearby couches and back in their school uniforms.

"But Kyouya! We haven't had a dance in so long!" Tamaki pouted in his polished way.

"And what do you mean 'first school-wide'? At the last festival there was a dance for the whole student body."

"Yes, but it was in _one_ place," the King replied, beaming. "For our ball, _all_ of Ouran would be the dance floor!" Kyouya stared at him seriously and the other hosts could feel the building anger radiating from the vice president.

"You're a lunatic. Do you know the _bills_ we'd have to pay for keeping the entire school running after hours?"

Tamaki planted the back of his hand on his forehead and gave a hopeless sigh. "Oh, Kyouya! You pain me! Any romantic would know that a well-lit ballroom is… well, unromantic. What we need are dim lights; candle lights!"

"That many candles covering this school would be a fire hazard," the Shadow King responded quickly.

The two continued to argue while the rest of the club continued to pay them no attention. Haruhi was sitting on her own couch trying her hardest to remember if the coupons for _soba_ at the local grocery store had expired yet or not. If they hadn't, she was already planning what dinner she would make, and if they had, she had a couple of possible back-ups.

She was so engrossed in these important thoughts that she did not even notice a pair of redheads sneak up behind her and peer at her just over the couch back. By the time she finally spotted them, she nearly jumped.

"What are you guys doing?" Haruhi asked slowly as they just gazed at her with unreadable expressions.

"Inspecting," they mumbled in unison. The girl arched a brow.

"This has to do with Nekozawa, doesn't it?"

And then, to Haruhi's surprise, Hani came over (carried by Mori) and whined (in his most adorable way), "When are you going to stop seeing that scary person, Haru-chan?"

"Guys, you're making way too big a deal of this. Our arrangement's almost over, anyway."

"When?!" they all (excluding Mori, though he probably thought it) shouted. Haruhi looked at each of them strangely before replying.

"Sempai's next big test is at the end of next week, and if he scores high, I stop tutoring him."

"What if he purposely fails just to spend more time with you?" Hikaru nearly gasped at the sudden thought.

"No, that's something _you_ guys would do," sighed the girl. The three vocal hosts fell silent at that because they could not argue with something completely true. In the stretch of silence that followed, Tamaki and Kyouya's continuing argument could once again be heard.

"But Kyoouyaa! Think of the customers! Your adoring designators! You wouldn't want to disappoint them, would you? Besides, I've already promised them…"

"We've been through this before. From now on, please _consult me_ before coming up with these insane plans!"

"So… you're _okay_ with the ball?" squeaked a most hopeful president, eyes large and expectant and gleaming. Kyouya pushed his glasses back in place.

"Considering how fast news travels in this school, no doubt everyone has already heard of your reckless promise, so we can't retract it now." Tamaki gave a delighted squeak and pounced on his friend, snuggling against his cheek. He did not even stop when Kyouya warned him to and ended up earning himself a hard whack upside the head from the ledger.

As Tamaki hunched over to sulk, the other hosts' attentions returned to Haruhi. They all (simultaneously) started, however, when they noticed her couch was empty.

-----

Nekozawa leisurely strolled down the halls of Ouran on his way to his waiting limo. He was in an unusually pleasant mood this evening because earlier he had sold two Bereznoff voodoo dolls to a student (a non-Black Magic Club member) who had an almost unhealthy amount of rage pent up. But still, money's money. And Bereznoff himself seemed to have an unbothered conscience, so Nekozawa soon let it slip his mind, as well.

As he started descending the stairs, he noticed someone on the landing below turning to walk down the last flight to the first floor. Someone Nekozawa recognized.

"Haruhi!" he immediately called and began racing down the stairs. She stopped and looked at the president flailing toward her.

"Oh, hello, sempai," the girl greeted cheerfully. "Is there something you need?" Haruhi talked like she was on duty in her own club, making Nekozawa shuffle almost uneasily at her politeness.

"I w-was… well…" he stuttered, and Bereznoff exasperatedly shook his head, clearly judging him.

"I just wanted to… ah… say thanks again for helping me with math and…" (he searched desperately for a reason to be talking to her) "…was wondering if… I could interest you in any special edition Bereznoff voodoo dolls. These new ones have curses lasting up to seven years!"

Haruhi smiled appeasingly. "That's thoughtful, sempai, but I'd have no use for them. And really, it's no trouble tutoring you. I just hope you do your best on that exam next week."

"Yes," a pair of voices drawled, "do your _best_ and get back to doing your own work." The Hitachiin brothers glided down the stairs then, linked arms with Nekozawa, and bolted the rest of the way down, shouting their good-byes to Haruhi and wishing her a good weekend.

They put the indignant president down next to a sleek stretch limo, ignoring his threats of torture by demons and curses through four generations. After a quick tap to the back door, the window rolled halfway down to expose the top half of Hani's face. Even though the sun was low in the sky, he wore particularly dark sunglasses (and was sitting on a booster seat to be so high… something the twins hadn't figured out).

"Nekozawa, so good of you to visit," the little senior said crisply with no air of politeness.

"I'm not visiting… I've been kidnapped!" he cried, pointing to the redheaded, innocent-looking brothers.

"Then what a coincidence you've been kidnapped in our direction. It gives us a chance to… chat," continued Hani in a tone that would make even a _yakuza_ cringe. "Here's how it works: I'm gonna talk and you're gonna listen. Is that easy enough to understand?"

Mori, sitting in the car too, turned his cousin's head to look at Nekozawa, for it was previously facing the closest light pole. And poor Hani, with his dark sunglasses, could see as much as he could with his eyes closed. Nekozawa, however, nodded as if the senior had been facing him the entire time.

"We're a little… _concerned_ with how much time you're spending with our Haruhi and we just want to make sure your intentions aren't in any way dishonest or untrustworthy."

The twins leaned closer to the president and Kaoru added in a low voice, "We have our suspicions that you _know_ our Haruhi's secret."

"S-secret?" repeated Nekozawa. That earned a scoff from Hani.

"Just own up to it, coward! You're as easy to read as that Suoh."

At Bereznoff's indignant cries for Nekozawa not to let them intimidate him, the president suddenly stood up straight, making the twins back off a step. He puffed himself up and announced, "She told me when I drove her home awhile ago."

Hikaru and Kaoru jumped, then looked as if they wanted to strangle Nekozawa, but instead pounded the sidewalk like toddlers throwing a tantrum. (Only Bereznoff noticed their antics and decided against showing anyone else.)

Hani, who remained composed, breathed a pitiless sigh. "That's… unfortunate. You see, only we hosts know of this, and now that _you_ know, we're not so sure if we can trust you with such an important secret."

"I wouldn't tell," protested Nekozawa immediately. "Not even under the torture of demons!" One of Hani's eyebrows shot up at that.

"Would you be willing to put that to the test?"

The president jumped at that, all his fearful suspicions about the senior returning in full force, deflating Nekozawa's puffiness.

"Anyway, the point is this:" Hani continued monotonely, "we're watching you, and we're watching you _carefully_. Just one slip up and _BAM_!" He smacked his fist into the door at that and Nekozawa jumped again. "You'll be sorry. The Host Club will make sure of it." The window started rolling up but stopped before it had gotten far.

"Oh, and by the way, you had _better_ pass that exam coming up and end this sorry excuse to be around Haruhi daily… or else!" With that, the window shot up, the twins hopped in and the car took off. Really, it only went a few hundred feet before slipping into a parking space between two other limos.

All four hosts stuck their heads out various curbside windows to watch Nekozawa's reaction. Hani, with big eyes, bashfully put a finger to his mouth.

"I hope he knows we're still friends," he sighed.

They watched as Nekozawa looked from the puppet to the front doors of Ouran and back again. …Was he consulting that poorly-made mitten? The twins rolled their eyes. But to everyone's slight disappointment, the president just finished his little conversation and found his own waiting vehicle. The four hosts silently, simultaneously ducked when Nekozawa drove by, but soon poked their heads up again.

"Uh… what are you guys doing?" asked a familiar voice.

There, not even two feet away from the car stood Haruhi, backpack on, embarking on the trek home. Her expression was unreadable; she in no way found their behavior strange. The girl just felt she should ask before they got themselves in any real trouble.

Kaoru and Hikaru wordlessly sank out of view and rolled up their shared window, leaving only the seniors visible, the smaller of which was grinning broadly.

"Haru-chan, Haru-chan! Are you excited for the ball? Who are you going to be dressed as?" Haruhi just arched a brow.

"Okay then. See you all Monday."

As she walked on, Hani leaned out the window to call, "Aren't you coming to the dance?"

"I was hoping to avoid it if I could," was her reply. The twins did not waste a second in jumping out of the car and catching up with her.

"You know, it wouldn't be as fun without you," Hikaru said.

"How could you tell I was there? We'd all be wearing masks," she said, shrugging, and walked on, leaving the two behind.

"She's going," Kaoru smiled almost darkly, his brother's expression identical.

"She's definitely going."

-----

Yep, the sequel! No clue where I'm going with this, but I'm going! LoL, no I have an idea. I'll have fun with this story, too.


	2. Failed Rescue Mission

**a.n.** For those of you who don't remember the translated words from episode 11: Gariben is like nerd, shuchi nikurin is a decadent party, and stoic-kei is stoic type. And guess who randomly pops up in this chapter?  
:D (No one in the Nekozawa family or hired hands count.) 

**Chapter 2**

Managing the club's funds was not an easy task no matter which way you looked at it, especially with Tamaki as president. Kyouya had been up late Friday night trying to find a way to pay for the president's brilliant "school-wide" party. After figuring in catering, several orchestras, and non-fire-hazard-bright-but-not-too-bright candles, the Shadow King found himself several thousand dollars over budget (that budget being the "emergency stash" set aside specifically to cover Tamaki's thoughtless ideas). Even sweeping a couple thousand under the rug of Haruhi's debt did little to ease the steep number.

So, with a full-blown headache, Kyouya slumped off to bed somewhere around three in the morning. Barely six hours later, his cell phone rang. And when he did not even move to answer the blasted thing the first time, it rang again. The Shadow King had a pretty good idea who it was when it rang for a third time within a minute.

Kyouya sluggishly picked up his cell and planted it to his ear. "The first thing out of your wretched mouth better be some extraordinarily good reason for waking me at this hour of the morning, or so help me, Suoh, I'll send a squad of police to your house to assassinate you."

_"Not a good reason! Horrible! _Terrible!" came Tamaki's panicked voice from the other end. _"Call the police— the army—_ the emperor! _Or… better yet… call Misuzu! He might know—"_

"_What_ are you babbling on about?" snarled Kyouya, pinching the bridge of his nose as his headache came back in full force.

_"Haruhi! She's gone! She's not answering her cell and when I called her house, Ranka said she was out! _Out!_ At nine in the morning! What could she be doing at nine in the morning on a Saturday?"_

"So you called me because…?"

_"I need someone to go with me to Misuzu's pension… maybe Haruhi is working there for the weekend or something."_

"That's a stupid conclusion even for you to draw," Kyouya growled. "For your information, she is at Nekozawa's. During this final week before his test, they'll be spending even more time together." He pressed the phone to his shoulder to muffle the expected, shrill shriek that followed. When it was finally over, he returned the cell to his ear.

_"You _knew _about this? And you didn't _tell _me?! We have to go save her!"_ cried Tamaki. _"We must protect our daughter!"_

"You go protect her, daddy. I'm going back to sleep. Don't. Call. Again."

"Don't you care about Haruhi?" protested Tamaki in a last ditch effort, but Kyouya just hung up and slid back under the covers, massaging his throbbing temples.

-----

The Nekozawa family mansion was huge and— surprising to Haruhi— bright. She had only been there once before (when the Host Club visited the beach, episode 8), but that was at night during a thunderstorm. In the early morning light, it appeared normal. Sure, it looked like a modern castle with towers and turrets and all, but still Haruhi was expecting something scarier.

Also unexpected was Bereznoff greeting her at the door… on Kirimi's hand. The little girl really had not changed since Haruhi had last seen her and even had her hair in the same pigtail style. Upon seeing the host, Kirimi's eyes lit up with recognition and she smiled.

"Gariben!" she cried and hugged Haruhi's leg. (Bereznoff was not happy at the proximity.) "I've got more stories you can read me about princes and love affairs and _shuchi nikurin_!"

Luckily, Haruhi did not have to disappoint that chibi-hopeful face because from further inside, Nekozawa's familiar voice hollered, "Kirimi!" The girl gasped and both stared down the front hallway to notice a covered head poke out of a shadowed doorway. And shriek.

"Get Bereznoff out of the sunlight!"

-----

This was more like it. The excessively large study was well-curtained and had the dark, dreary feeling of a castle from the random (mostly cat-inspired) antiques, knick-knacks, and junk decoratively, tastefully placed about the room, and the dark, gothic architecture and furniture, and Nekozawa himself sitting right across from her.

His hand was unusually free of a certain puppet for he said Bereznoff did not particularly like the tutoring sessions. Since he was not the one in school, suffering through another lesson would be too much to bear. Even surprising to Nekozawa, Bereznoff quickly chose shoujo manga over math and therefore adorned Kirimi's hand, dropping all the way to her elbow.

"Okay," Haruhi said once all the president's books were out, "let's see those problems I assigned you last time. You got them all done, right?"

Nekozawa proudly presented his work sheet (written in unexpectedly tidy penmanship) and as she checked over them, the president attempted chit-chat.

"So how did you enjoy the ride over?"

"It was fine," Haruhi replied distractedly. "Thank you for sending the limo."

"Yes, I had it exterminated just yesterday. Good thing, eh?" That caught the girl's attention. "You should've _seen_ the family of rodents crawling aro— oh." Only at the last minute did Nekozawa notice his guest growing slightly pale and realize he should stop. He quickly fell silent and Haruhi's gaze returned to the paper.

A couple minutes passed with Nekozawa switching between lightly drumming on the table and twiddling his thumbs. It was an unusual sensation to have both hands free and he easily found ways of entertaining himself until Haruhi finished.

"You got most of them wrong," she announced finally. "Let's go over each one.

-----

An hour and a half later they were interrupted by the pigtailed maid for a tea break. If Nekozawa had not been slumped over on the table twitching occasionally, Haruhi would not have agreed to it. Luckily green tea revived him.

After a few sips, he felt brave enough to start a conversation again. "There are no hard feelings about the little labyrinth incident, are there?"

"No," Haruhi replied with a smirk. "In fact I think it brought in more customers to the actual event." Nekozawa nervously tapped the sides of his teacup.

"I heard your next event is a dance… and that it's open to everyone."

"Yes. It was Tamaki-sempai's idea." Haruhi was busily shuffling through word problem sheets and did not notice the president's awkwardness as he continued.

"Is there a theme?"

"Well, being Tamaki-sempai's idea, it wasn't well planned out, so I think it's 'anything goes.' Are you thinking of attending, sempai?" She glanced up at him for once to see him shrug and her eyes fell back to the math papers.

"I… I was just curious if you were going… with anyone, Fujioka-kun."

"I could think of a better way of spending an evening, like at home, but I know somehow I'll be there. Everyone else will make sure of it," she replied, not able to stop a small rant from slipping out.

"They must really like you."

"…Or something."

Nekozawa paused to drink his tea, observing Haruhi from under his hood… until she looked up at him. His eyes shot down to his teacup.

"Sempai, I was wondering…" (His full attention was immediately captured.) "Yesterday when I saw you on the stairs, you called me by my first name."

"Oh, uh, did I?"

"Yes. I don't mind, but I just want to caution you about appearing too personal with me around school considering the situation," the host said with a genuine, serious expression. Nekozawa forced a smirk.

"You're right, Fujioka-kun. I guess it just slipped that one time." After a nod of agreement he added, "It won't happen again."

-----

Only Tamaki could get lost going to a place he had once been to before. Fearing the Low Blood Pressure Evil Lord, he called the twins.

_"Tono,"_ one of them (he couldn't tell which) groaned sleepily, _"it's not even noon yet. Why are you waking us up?"_

"I need you to send me your family's helicopter right away! It's an emergency!"

_"Mom's taken it to Hong Kong for a show. Use your own!"_

"It's undergoing annual repairs right now," he whined with a pout. "And I need a fast way to get home!"

_"Why? Were are you?"_

"…Misuzu's pension." At the mention, the owner looked over from the table he was attending to Tamaki, who was sitting by himself and morosely stirring his cold tea.

"Tell those refreshing boys I said 'hello'!" he giggled.

Tamaki could hear the twins shiver on the other end. Once they recovered, they inquired none too nicely why he was there.

"Well, Kyouya told me Haruhi was at Nekozawa's and so I went looking for her."

_"And you ended up at Misuzu's?!"_ both cried incredulously. _"Brilliant, Tono…"_ Tamaki slumped onto his table with glistening eyes threatening to cry.

"You're kind of missing the point here…"

_"No, we get it. Haruhi's been captured and you need us to not only save _her_ but to save _you_ as well."_ Tamaki sat up a little and sniffed.

"Okay, you do get it."

_"We'll call Hani-sempai,"_ they promised after exasperated sighs. _"If his helicopter's unavailable, he could always send his private jet."_

-----

By the time lunch rolled around, Nekozawa had correctly completed his homework assignment and felt he deserved a break. The same maid, Kuretake, came in to lead them to the dining room which was similarly dark… on the right half of the room. It was a large, rectangular space with one wall completely made of windows. Only the curtains on the left side were drawn. At the head of the table sat a man in a suit and at his left, on the side, sat a woman in casual (by eccentrically rich standards) clothes. Both were blond and the countenances with which they observed Haruhi were genuinely warm and inviting. It made her wonder how beautiful parents like that got a son like Nekozawa.

Kirimi sat halfway down the impractically long table, half in the light, half in the dark. Her brother sat at the other end of the table, opposite the dad, completely in the dark. When told she could sit anywhere, Haruhi chose a seat across from Kirimi (who did not have Bereznoff), but one that was in total shade.

As the five ate lunch (various shrimp and sushi platters with sauces unlike Haruhi had ever tasted before and whole crabs), the parents— especially the father— asked Nekozawa how the tutoring was going and bragged to Haruhi (in a refined way) that their son's last in-class quiz was a whole grade higher than usual.

Their mother asked Haruhi about herself: school, family, friends, and listened attentively to the girl's lack of interesting stories for a whole ten minutes before a new subject of conversation evolved. By the end of the meal, Haruhi could not help but think Nekozawa's parents were two of the nicest, most pleasant people she had ever met in her entire life.

-----

Five heads poked out of the bushes in front of the Nekozawa mansion (Kyouya was waiting by the car which was parked on the street). The story the hosts had agreed upon was this: Haruhi had been kidnapped in the middle of the night and brought to the mansion, bound, gagged, blindfolded, handcuffed, chained _and_ without being allowed to say good-bye to her father (at first Tamaki thought that meant him). She was either in the attic or the basement, surviving on the measly portions allotted her and— when she was really hungry— stray rats. And all for Nekozawa's selfish reason of better grades.

So of course the hosts knew it was their duty (no, their _obligation_) to save her. And when Kyouya denied them the means to call in his family's private police ("Tamaki, stop overreacting. You can just call the Nekozawa residence," he offered. Tamaki jumped. "No! They'll be expecting that!"), they decided to personally go and save Haruhi from a fate worse than death.

They had reached the front yard when they realized, thanks to Mori, "How do we get in?" Tamaki was silent. The twins, on either side of him, slowly turned to face him, eyes narrowed.

"You brought us all the way over here without a _plan_?!" Hikaru accused. The brothers were about to attack the president when Mori shouted, "Mitsukuni!" and they all looked to see Hani skipping up the front stairs.

-----

"Do you get the theorem now?" Haruhi asked after Nekozawa correctly answered several practice problems in a row.

"Yes… now. The teacher doesn't explain it like you do, Ha… Fujioka-kun," he replied quickly. "You make it simpler to understand."

"Good," smiled the girl. "Maybe the other thirty will come just as easily." Nekozawa nearly fell over in his chair.

"Thirty?!"

"Actually, there's thirty-five in all, but you've got five memorized already. Good job!" Although her remark was not at all meant to be sarcastic, the president could not help feeling slightly put down by it. Haruhi noticed him frown.

"Oh, but don't worry. From the class schedule, you only need to know the first twenty by next week's test."

Somehow that didn't help.

Just then the study door opened and Kuretake entered in a bow. "Obocchama, I apologize for interrupting you, but some friends have arrived." Both Haruhi and Nekozawa stared at her with varying degrees of disbelief until two very familiar seniors walked in.

Nekozawa's breath caught upon seeing the little one.

"Hani-sempai, Mori-sempai," Haruhi began, "what are you doing here?" The blond host beamed.

"We're here to rescue you!"

Haruhi blinked, eyes devoid of a single spark of comprehension. "Um… I'll be done in a little over a half an hour. Can you wait that long?" Both seniors nodded, Hani smiling as if the mission were going completely according to plan.

"We can help you in the meantime!" he offered (out of the goodness of his heart).

"Or you can read to Kirimi," suggested the girl with a nod of her head in the direction of a second doorway where a curious Kirimi stood, Bereznoff on one hand, shoujo manga in the other.

"Loli-shota! Stoic-kei!" she squealed and ran up to them. The maid motioned for them to follow her and Mori did— with the little blonds in both his arms.

"So anyway…" sighed Haruhi the instant the doors were closed.

-----

"It's nearly been twenty minutes!" gasped Tamaki, looking at the elegant pocket watch in his hand. ("Where did that come from?" Kaoru asked.) The president clamped the watch shut. "This only means one thing: they have been taken hostage as well. We're no longer rescuing one. We have to save three." The twins listened with the same seriousness Tamaki had as he delivered those lines. After a suspenseful pause, they all began rock, paper, scissors.

-----

Both Hani and Kirimi sat on Mori's lap in the girl's large toy room. Hani was reading the stories far faster and better than Kuretake ever did. He gave all the characters different voices and voiced all the sound effects. So when Hikaru was led in the room as Hani was reenacting an overly dramatic kissing scene, the twin was stunned speechless.

The little senior finally noticed him and waved. "Hika-chan! We're on volume seven of _A Faraway Dream: Summer Love in Bloom_. Wanna join us?" One of Hikaru's eyes twitched.

"Join you? I'm here to rescue you… look what they've done, locked you in here and force-fed you questionable shoujo manga!" he cried.

"It's not bad," Mori grunted.

"And where are they keeping Haruhi? Are they making her watch the anime of that novel?!"

"No," laughed Hani. "She's finishing up tutoring Nekozawa. She should be ready to leave any minute now."

-----

"Well, that's eight theorems we got through," smiled Haruhi as she collected her own papers and returned them into her bag.

"I'm doomed," whined Nekozawa, letting his head _thump_ onto the table. "I'll never get all twenty memorized by Friday… and that's not all I'm having trouble with."

"Don't worry," Haruhi responded lightheartedly. "You're doing very well, and if you pay special attention this week in class, I'm sure things will start to make a lot more sense."

Nekozawa lifted his head. "So what are you saying?"

"Cut the drama, sempai," she replied flatly. Haruhi stood up and bowed slightly. "I'll see you tomorrow, then?" Nekozawa scurried to his feet and returned the gesture.

"Yes. A-and Haru… Fujioka-kun? About next week…"

"Your test?"

"N-no, the dance. You see, I think I'd like to go, but I don't think I'd know anyone who'd be there. D-do you think you'll be there?"

Haruhi smiled sympathetically. "I will be. I'm sure we'll run into each other."

Nekozawa gave a lopsided grin and was about to say something when he jumped, giving a startled shout and holding his left arm. Haruhi nearly gave a cry herself at his jittery behavior.

"Are you all right? What happened?"

"Nothing," he laughed foolishly, rubbing his arm. "I guess all that studying is really starting to affect me." He gave another laugh and waved as she left. The minute the door closed, his features grew somber once more as he still clung to his arm.

-----

Well, I was freakishly happy today because I got to leave work early and all, so I decided that since I had this already done, I'd post it and spread the happiness!

In other news… I'm finding it hard to keep Haruhi in character. :( The more I rewatch the anime and reread the manga, the more I think I'm veering away from the real character. X.x; Bear with me as I try to get her back on track!


	3. The Somewhat Impromtu Fashion Show

**Chapter 3**

Just when Tamaki and Kaoru had reached the front doors (to begin their own rescue mission), they opened and their missing comrades exited, Haruhi in the lead. Even before she had taken two steps out of the house, Kaoru and Tamaki pounced on her as if they had not seen her in ages.

The seniors were the last ones out, escorted by Kirimi, and Hani promised her that whenever she felt like dropping by Ouran with a good manga (preferably _A Faraway Dream_ vol. 8), he and Mori would read to her.

"He let you go! Alive!" the president cried happily to his daughter.

"You know, Tamaki-sempai, you're being much more dramatic than usual. All of you are," said Haruhi as she tried to squirm out of his and Kaoru's sandwich hug. To her surprise, it was Hikaru who helped her free and distanced his brother from her so another double attack could not be attempted.

"Well, we're worried about you," Tamaki nearly whined. The seniors were now leading the way to the limo and Tamaki was following Haruhi.

"Actually, sempai, I think you're just procrastinating," she said, to which he gave an inquisitive gurgle. "Your irresponsible promise for a spectacular dance is too difficult to carry out, so you're just avoiding it altogether by focusing more on me."

"Well, I was never really working on the ball," admitted Tamaki a bit timidly. "Kyouya usually handles the specifics, so I figured he'd take care of everything."

Haruhi sighed exasperatedly and walked faster.

When the limo was in sight, Haruhi was closest to it (Hani had been distracted by a butterfly), and when she reached it, Kyouya (who had been leaning against it the whole time) opened the door for her.

Right when she was about to climb in he said, "I assume you've met Nekozawa's parents."

Haruhi nodded.

"What do you think of them?"

"They're really nice, and they seemed involved and interested in their children's lives. It's not what I was expecting from a family like this," she answered, a small smile growing. When Kyouya did not comment, Haruhi asked why he wanted to know.

He contemplated the question before replying, "Because you usually have rather interesting views." He motioned for her to get in as the others arrived and all seven squeezed in just fine.

On the drive home, Tamaki's one-track mind was on the ball and he dedicated himself to helping Kyouya for the next whole week plan and organize the event. He even suggested living at the Ootori mansion.

"To be honest," Kyouya sighed, "your proposal is out of the blue and even frightening considering its suddenness, but I will accept your help." He sounded far from thankful. "But don't show up at my house."

Tamaki gave a cry of delight and looked ready to hop over to Kyouya's side of the vehicle.

"And don't you dare hug me."

The conversation soon veered to Haruhi, and her "rescuers" began asking her to describe the horrific details of the Nekozawa mansion and her stay there.

"You were _all there_ for one night awhile ago," she told them firmly, now tired of their game. "Don't you remember your own experiences?" From across the limo, Haruhi could have sworn Kyouya tensed somewhat, but the reaction was gone in an instant.

"I remember a scary board game," Hani moaned and clung to Mori's arm. A string of memories came from most of the guys then and lasted until the car pulled up to Haruhi's complex.

The girl reached for the door when Hikaru and Kaoru drawled, "We'll see you tomorrow." Haruhi stepped out of the car and stuck her face back in.

"Guys, this spying thing has got to stop," she said with an almost motherly authority. "You may not like Nekozawa-sempai, but stop using him as a distraction from dealing with next week's event." With that, the door was closed. A silence passed over the hosts for a moment.

"We're not using it as a distraction."

"Me either."

"Uhn."

"Where _did_ she get that idea?"

"I dunno. I thought she'd be able to tell our intentions," mused Tamaki, to which the others nodded in agreement. They had never talked openly about it, but they were all there for the same reason and they knew it.

-----

"I'm home!" Haruhi called, closing the front door.

"Welcome home, honey!" replied her father and he met her with a hug. "Something came for you today— it looks important." Ranka produced an envelope that looked aged, had her name and address written beautifully on the front, and was closed with a wax seal bearing the Host Club insignia. (_Since when have we had a coat of arms?_)

"Open it, open it!" Ranka prompted, bouncing and giggling. Bracing herself for the worst, Haruhi complied. She pulled out a piece of parchment that looked similarly old and read the message written in the same, beautiful, humanly impossibly characters:

_Miss Haruhi Fujioka, you are hereby invited to the first annual _(oh, brother) _Ouran High School school-wide dance.  
Come for a night of dancing, costumes, and fun with the Host Club and your fellow students.  
Saturday the 18th, 8 pm.-1 a.m._ (They can't be serious)  
_O-machi shite orimasu!_

Ranka sighed and thought it was simply beautiful, giving Haruhi his full permission to attend. The girl's shoulders dropped and she trudged off toward her room.

"Where are you going, Haruhi?"

"To find a wastebasket."

"You can't throw away that piece of art! Give it to daddy! I'll put it up on the fridge!" Her protests and general scoffing came to naught and the letter ended up proudly displayed on the refrigerator.

-----

Tamaki and Kyouya were the last ones in the limo because after the president's begging and pleading and pestering, the Shadow King begrudgingly consented and allowed him to visit the mansion. For once, Tamaki had stayed to a single subject the whole ride there.

"So should we bring dates, like our most dedicated clients? Or the highest payer?" The latter suggestion made Kyouya arch an eyebrow, considering.

"That would defeat the point of our hosting this if we were stuck with one girl the entire night."

"But Haruhi and I would be the perfect couple!" Tamaki announced, eyes glossed over. Kyouya at once knew the king was a willing prisoner to his thoughts and nothing the vice president could do would bring him back to reality. So for the time being, he just enjoyed the silence.

-----

By noon on Sunday they were all at the Ootori mansion, seniors twins and Tamaki… the culprit who had invited them all over. Kyouya was returning from his early lunch and found them all huddled around a low table, conspiring. As long as they were all willing to help plan this, Kyouya would not kick them out.

For about a half hour, the intruders were helpful with suggestions for decorations, food, and money-saving tips. However, after that their interest fluxed elsewhere.

"What do you think Haru-chan in doing right now?" Hani wondered aloud from his spot on the floor. This new subject caught on like wildfire.

"Probably having to defend herself from Nekozawa's advances every ten seconds," muttered Tamaki with narrowing eyes.

Kaoru almost laughed. "No, Tono, you're thinking of yourself."

"Maybe we should check up on her," the president murmured. Kyouya intervened before action could be taken.

"I'm sure she wouldn't appreciate being spied upon again. What's one more week?" The twins jumped at that.

"But he's falling for her!" protested Kaoru. "In one more week they could be _married_!"

"And we won't let her be anyone else's wife!" Hikaru added fervently.

This new turn their conversation had taken was making Tamaki more and more depressed by the second. But Kyouya, completely unbothered, pushed his glasses back in place.

"_He_ may like her, but if he were going to try anything— especially marriage— he would need _her_ consent. And I can safely say Haruhi is the least romantic out of all of us." The other hosts breathed a sigh of relief then— except for Tamaki of course who immediately jumped to his feet, nearly upsetting everyone's teacups when he bumped into the coffee table.

"That's it then!" he shouted determinedly. "For our next step of making Haruhi more feminine, we shall make her more romantic for the dance!" The twins and seniors applauded; Kyouya pinched the bridge of his nose.

-----

Late in the afternoon Haruhi returned home, having received a ride from Nekozawa's (exterminated) limo. Just as she opened to door, sounds of her dad laughing reached her. No, not laughing… giggling. Curious, she traipsed into the living room to see her dad sitting at the low table with all the hosts.

"Oh, you're back, Haruhi!" Ranka greeted her with the largest smile she had seen him wear in a long time. "Your friends dropped by an hour ago or so and we've been catching up!"

"Shitsure shimasu," sighed Haruhi, turning on her heel and trudging off to her room. However, on her father's orders, the twins caught her and escorted her back.

"Honey, they're here for a (very good) reason, now hear them out!"

With a cough of superiority, Tamaki stood and his arms began to flail in a lordly way as he spoke. "Haruhi Fujioka! You have spent far too much time cross-dressing, and it pains your fathers!" The president acknowledged Ranka then, who was nodding solemnly. "So we want you to start acting your gender! From now until Friday we will be giving you lessons if necessary on becoming feminine so at the ball you can show the whole school once and for all you are a—"

"Not possible," Kyouya quickly cut in. "She has a considerable amount of debt still, so she'll have to wait before shouting it to the world. However, as long as she wears a mask there, she can dress as feminine as she wants."

Haruhi, though slightly annoyed that they were all talking about her as if she was not there, found the idea humorous that a group of men would teach her how to be more feminine.

"Okay then!" Tamaki's voice ripped Haruhi out of her thoughts. "On to your wardrobe!" (A sinking feeling kicked it.) "Thanks to the twins, we have several outfits for you to try on. They're hanging in your room."

"They're absolutely _fabulous_, Haruhi!" "giggled her father. "Go try them on!"

Only because she had nowhere to hide in the house and she would not get far running (being possibly the slowest in the entire school), Haruhi consented and slumped off to her room. There, in their own little showcases, were three ball gowns complete with accessories and masks. This was not going to be fun.

The first, a horrific peacock dress (made completely of real peacock feathers, including an outrageous collar of tail feathers) got applause from all, "peacock blue" was voted Haruhi's official color, and pictures were taken by Ranka.

The second was white, sparkly, and could have been mistaken for a wedding dress. For these pictures, Tamaki, the twins, and Hani posed separately with her, looking as groomish as possible. Haruhi, however, had an expressionless face, looking as if she were trying her hardest to tolerate everything.

The third was a cross between the two: white feathers, white long gloves and swan mask. More pictures by her father and more approval by the hosts.

"So, Haruhi," Tamaki announced at last, "which one would you like to wear to the ball?"

"None of them," she replied with a quickness that stung him. "They're nice, but way too flamboyant for me. How did you know my size, anyway?"

Sly grins snuck across the twins' faces. "Wild guess."

Haruhi did not want to know.

Upon noticing a questioning glance from her father, Hikaru and Kaoru donned innocent expressions and quickly took interest on a spot on the table.

"But you've got to wear _something_ pretty to the ball, Haru-chan!" Hani called from Mori's shoulders. "And all those dresses looked great on you!"

"That they did," agreed her father. "Oh _won't_ you wear a dress to the dance?"

"But the clients there will expect me to come dressed as a boy," Haruhi grabbed a handful of gown feathers and shook it, swaying the whole skirt. "Not this."

"You can wear two costumes," the twins suggested quickly, finally looking up. Tamaki seemed to think she was the luckiest host in the world.

"Yes! You can dress as a girl for us and dress as a guy for your designators!"

"Do you _want_ me to die of exhaustion?" Haruhi croaked, eyebrow twitching. "Half the time I'll be dancing, the other half changing my clothes."

"I know," smiled Tamaki. "Won't it be great?" Haruhi visibly twitched.

"Well then, how about if your debt reduces by twenty percent because of your participation and wardrobe changes?" Kyouya suggested.

Haruhi was dressed in some freakish swan ball gown for the hosts and all the vision-impaired jerk offered was twenty? Puffing herself up, the girl cried, "Thirty!"

The room quieted and Kyouya arched an eyebrow. Changes in debt had never, ever been haggled. But a ghost of a smirk swept across the Shadow King's face.

"Twenty-five… _quite_ generous."

"Twenty-nine."

Kyouya leaned back on his hands, his head titled thoughtfully. "Twenty-five and a _decent_ costume to wear to the ball— for when you're both a guy and a girl." Before the twins could take offense (their mom had designed all three dresses), Haruhi brought one fist down into her other open hand.

"Done! And I want to see this debt reduction on paper, mind you."

As she returned to her room to change into normal clothes, Ranka clapped and giggled. "Oh, my Haruhi is so clever! But _you_ were clever too, Kyouya-kun!" He swished his hand at the vice president, who had not moved at all since the girl had left them and appeared to be lost in his own thoughts; his eyes seemed to be staring at something far beyond his glasses.

When Haruhi returned, she was wearing a flowery shirt, short skirt and fashionable stockings. Somehow she looked more feminine than in those three ball dresses. More compliments flowed.

"_Where_ is _my_ wardrobe?!" she shouted at Tamaki. The host scrunched up defensively.

"That one wasn't my idea… completely!" he replied quickly.

"We just want you to look more like a girl, Haru-chan," Hani spoke up in a pacifying tone, "so we switched your clothes for prettier (and more fashionable) ones!" If it had been any of the other hosts saying that, Haruhi would have been offended— if not angered— by their bluntness, though her cheeks still flustered at the little senior's lack of tact.

"Taka-chan came up with the idea in the first place," Hani added with a smile. Mori made no move to either nod or shake his head and Haruhi found herself awkwardly scratching the back of her neck.

"Oh, um… okay. They're nice clothes, after all… (though mine were just as 'feminine')"

"What?!" shrieked Tamaki. "You shout at _me_ when you thought I did it, but _Mori_ did it and it's fine?!"

"Yes."

The president gave a cry of outrage and sat down to sulk… just as the rest of the hosts stood up.

"Thank you for having us over, Ranka-san," Kyouya said with a polite bob of his head.

"It was fun!" added Hani, smiling, the twins and Mori nodding in agreement. The older man giggled and batted his hand at them again.

"No problem. You boys come back anytime… you don't even have to ask." One of Haruhi's eyebrows twitched. (_So _he's_ the culprit!_)

"We'll be taking our underappreciated ball gowns back, then," sighed the twins as they passed her by.

"You were _really pretty_ in those dresses, Haru-chan," Hani told her as he and Mori were exited the room. The taller senior gave a brief "Uhn" before Hani whirled around to face Haruhi.

"You'll dance with me at the ball, won't you, Haru-chan?" His helpless expression made her smile.

"Of course I will—"

"And not just one of the little ones. I mean a major dance." The girl's face went blank as she tried to figure out what he meant.

Tamaki knew this was his cue to bestow his bountiful knowledge on his poor daughter and he jumped up without any traces of his previous bad mood.

"At our school balls," he began grandly, "there are major and minor dances. The minors are played all during the ball and it doesn't matter who you dance with, but the _majors_!" Rose vision encircled him as he continued. "Major, beautiful orchestral songs are played only once every hour and it matters who your partner is. The songs are longer, grander, and you just _must_ be seen with the right people! It's especially an honor to be seen dancing with a host." Of course Tamaki's explanation dragged on, but Haruhi turned her attention back to Hani.

"I'd love to dance a major song with you, sempai." Hani gave a happy cry and ran toward the front door, arms out like he was flying. Mori followed dragging the still-talking Tamaki by the arm. Haruhi then noticed Kyouya in the kitchen staring at the refrigerator.

"Dad put that up," she sighed, looking at the prestigious invitation.

"Yes, I was planning to ask you what you thought of it. It's only a prototype."

"I'm sure your clients would love it; it's beautiful."

Kyouya gave a nod. "Well then, I'll have the rest of the invitations printed right away. Thank you for your help." He waved to the giggling Ranka and left before the twins (still looking offended) led some workers in to remove the three showcases of gowns.

-----

I need YOU, readers, to suggest masquerade costumes for anyone and everyone, random people, hosts, Renge, Ranka, Bereznoff, everyone!! It would be of much help. :)


	4. Monday

**Chapter 4**

The next day in class, the twins were still looking terribly offended that not only did Haruhi _not_ like their mother's exquisitely made dresses, but she immediately took Kyouya's offer for "decent" costumes. And after all the trouble they had gone through: making painstakingly accurate measurements with their arms by hugging her countless times, she flat-out turned them down.

So they were snobbishly giving her the silent treatment, as they had been all morning. Through all their early classes, even though they sat on either side of Haruhi and even though they had whispered things back and forth to each other, not a word was spoken to their reluctant eavesdropper. However, when the lunch hour rolled around, they were quite perturbed to find she either had not noticed she was undergoing punishment or she did not care. Haruhi had just sat there, listening carefully to the different teachers, taking notes and apparently learning.

How dare she.

As the other students filed out of the room for the cafeteria (pasta direct from Italy was the main course today), the twins broke down and draped over either of her shoulders.

"We can't go on like this, Haruhi," Hikaru almost whined.

"We're feeling neglected," added Kaoru. He laced his fingers in hers and used both their hands to prop his head up.

"Oh?" Haruhi replied in a distant tone that told the brothers she was not paying attention. She was diligently scanning over her notes, adding things in here and there as the twins crept closer. Luckily no other students were in the room to see Hikaru and Kaoru rubbing their faces against Haruhi's cheeks.

"Guys, cut it out, I have to get this done," she sighed tiredly. They stopped acting like kittens but stayed close; Kaoru's face still touched hers.

"Haruhi," he began in a drawl, "we wanted to know…"

"If we could have one of your major dances?" finished Hikaru.

They expected another distracted answer like "sure" to make them just go away. What they got was: "How many majors are there?"

"Six," they responded curiously. Haruhi stopped writing.

"Don't you think I should save some dances for the girls? After all, I'm supposed to be there as a boy." The twins loosened their grip on her, their playful smiles gone.

"You can't be dancing with girls all night, though," Hikaru muttered.

"Yes, we want you, too," said Kaoru, a possessive glint in his eyes. Haruhi looked seriously from one to the other.

"We can dance the minor ones too, you know. In the end, does it really matte if we danced to the disgustingly grand songs? For a six-hour long ball, we'll definitely have time to dance. I'll save one for each of you. I promise." They seemed satisfied with that answer and left, only speaking when they were safely in the deserted halls.

"Hani-sempai got her to agree to a major right away," glowered Hikaru.

Kaoru gave a snort. "Manipulative little beast."

-----

Father was going to hear about this. Most definitely. After being kidnapped on the way to the cafeteria, blindfolded, and dragged through the most random halls of Ouran, Renge found herself in a cushy, ornate chair in a dark room. Her robed captors were gone and instead there was one figure, candelabra in one hand, cat puppet on the other.

"What is the meaning of this?" Renge gasped. She moved to stand up but found her wrists had been tied to the chair arms. The girl stared at Nekozawa in shock. "I'm to be the victim of your S&M fantasies, aren't I?"

Bereznoff shuddered at that, disturbed, but the president did not get it. So he ignored it.

"I have brought you here for a proposition," he said in his most "haunting" voice. Renge winced and asked what it was.

"Quite simple, really." He neared her slowly, determinedly. "You help me and I don't curse you and your family for up to six generations." Nekozawa was practically leaning over Renge now, who looked considerably braver. Really, her fear was being replaced by curiosity.

"Help with what?"

Nekozawa straightened. "With… um… getting ready for the host club's ball." At that Renge gave a delighted (unexpected) shriek and the president jumped back.

"You mean you want to learn how to dance and give nice compliments?"

Nekozawa backed up another couple of steps. "No, you see, I… want to kind of impress this girl…" Suddenly Renge started bouncing forward, taking the huge chair with her and making the room shudder with each jarring bound.

"There's a girl? _(jump)_ Really? _(jump)_ What's her name? _(jump, jump)_ Have I seen her? _(jump) _Is she in my class?" (jump, jump, jump)

"Ow, get off my foot!" cried Nekozawa.

"Whoops, sorry," she giggled. She tipped the chair back far enough to free Nekozawa and brought it back down with an unbelievable _BAM!_

Bereznoff hid in his master's robes and began plotting Renge's deportation.

"I… don't want anyone to know, so I can't tell you," Nekozawa said.

Renge jumped up then, somehow breaking through her bonds. Posing and giving the peace sign, she laughed, "That's okay (I'll probably find out anyway)! I'll help you get the girl! It'll be like in those movies…" And her imagination ran away with her. The girl laced her fingers together and leaned close to Nekozawa, uncaringly invading his personal space. "This will make such a story! It would only be better if you were after a boy like on of the hosts. Are you sure you don't want to change your love interest to Hani-sempai?"

"This is _not_ one of your fanfictions!" Nekozawa immediately cried, backing up another step. He ignored Bereznoff's earnest pleas to banish her to some remote patch of land in the north Atlantic.

"Now are you going to help me or not?" he asked.

"Of course I will," Renge replied seriously. "When will lessons start?"

Never actually thinking she would agree to it, Nekozawa had not planned far enough ahead to include meeting times. So he shrugged and said, "Anytime, I guess."

Smiling, Renge pulled a flashlight out of some part of her dress. "Great. Let's begin."

-----

"Sempai, are you feeling well?" Haruhi asked in a genuinely concerned voice. She and Nekozawa were in the second reading room in the darkest corner (which wasn't very dark at all), going over the theorems he had to know by Friday, and the president was almost hyperventilating.

"N-no, I'm okay, Haruhi," he said slowly, eye-twitching.

"We can study this another time if you want," offered the girl as she began collecting her notes. Nekozawa caught one of her hands.

"No, really. I'm fine." (If Bereznoff could have rolled his eyes, he would have.) "And even if I wasn't, I'd still want to study because I don't think I know this stuff well enough yet." He gave a pitiable shrug of his shoulders, vented something between a whine and a whimper, and ever-so-subtley squeezed her hand.

"You may just have to pull an all-nighter Thursday night on top of your regular studying," Haruhi concluded unsympathetically. Really, nothing about Nekozawa's pathetic state seemed to stir any emotion in her at all.

The president blinked. "All-nighter?"

"Yes, you know… when you stay up all night studying. Usually the night before a big test."

"I've never even _heard_ of something like that before," he said incredulously. Haruhi checked an annoyed sigh from escaping and removed her hand from under his to start rearranging her notes to use.

"A little last-minute cramming never hurt anyone," she muttered plainly.

It took a couple of seconds for Nekozawa to summon his courage to ask: "Would you help me study Thursday night?"

"All night?" Haruhi stopped shuffling papers to look up at him. Her gaze was neither surprised nor judgmental; she just stared. But the president felt his knees go weak with embarrassment (luckily for him he was sitting down).

"No, not at all. You could stay until two or three… or you could sleep while I study, or…"

"Let's just focus on today's work and see what gets done," Haruhi interrupted with an awkward smile. Bereznoff was hiding his face, ashamed at having such a master.

-----

Haruhi scurried into the third music room and was halfway to the changing room when something caught her attention. "No costumes today?" she almost gasped.

"We can't afford anything, apparently," sighed Hikaru, who was splayed ungracefully across one couch.

Kaoru, who was lying on the floor with a book at the foot of the couch, added, "Something about budget constraints. No doubt Tono's fault."

Tamaki, though all the way on the other side of the room, would have given a heated reply if there had not been a knock at the door then, followed by the head of a customer peering in.

"Our humblest apologies, princess," came Tamaki's flowery tone and speech (completely forgetting about the twins), "but we are not yet open—"

"Sorimachi-san?" Haruhi cut in upon recognizing her client, Kaho. She neared the doors when it was obvious Kaho would not enter.

The client bashfully held a hand to her mouth, looking uncharacteristically shy. Of all Haruhi's designators, Kaho was one of the boldest girls, never afraid of speaking her mind or asking more personal questions about the hosts that other girls were too timid to voice. So to see her acting like one of Tamaki's clients was surprising.

"Haruhi-kun, I wanted to ask you before others did during club hours," she began softly, as if afraid of being overheard (the twins were trying their hardest to listen while appearing indifferent). "Would… would you dance a major dance with me?"

"It would be my pleasure," smiled Haruhi, pausing so her client could breathe a sigh of relief. "In fact, I'll dance with you first, so don't be late." Kaho seemed to float away, tears of happiness flowing freely.

"You know," Kyouya spoke up as Haruhi closed the door, "you shouldn't give your dances away to just _anyone_. You only have six of them."

"Now only four," came the twins' input from the couches.

"That's still a lot," Haruhi replied with an innocent shrug while the other hosts shook their heads at her naiveté.

-----

It was not until Haruhi was entertaining her other designators that she realized how brave Kaho was. All the girls in each of her groups were obviously tense, riveted on the edge of their seats, far too afraid to ask much of anything. Kaho, however, sat comfortably, triumphantly, stirring her tea and smiling at everyone else's uneasiness. She already had what she wanted. And for that, Haruhi felt she either was crafty or knew her host's personality freakishly well. Because of course Haruhi asked none of her designators for their hand during a major dance. She said she would see the girls there and hope to be able to dance with each (remaining torturously vague on the kind of dance), and left them to hope in vain from the edge of their seats.

"What are you going to be dressed as, Haruhi-kun?" one of her clients in the last group asked timidly, "So we can match?" A collective gasp came from the other girls. Haruhi smiled.

"Truthfully, I don't have a costume in mind yet." (Kyouya had not dropped any hints about what she was to wear.) "But we don't have to match; just wear what you like."

"What do _you_ like, Haruhi-san?" another girl asked wide-eyed, and all the girls leaned forward. Their host was quiet for several moments, contemplating. The waiting ladies looked as if they would fall out of their chairs.

Finally, smiling, Haruhi chirped, "Ootoro!"

And one designator really did fall out of her chair.

-----

Haruhi slipped her book bag strap over her shoulder and informed her clubmates she was headed home. But then she was hefted over Mori's shoulder and brought back into the middle of the room.

"Not so fast, young one," Tamaki called from his king chair, which (for some unknown reason) was the only piece of furniture there. Haruhi was set down in front of Mori and he remained behind her as if to guard her.

"Unless you've forgotten," the president continued, "you have classes with us this week. Consider it… _Femininity 101_!"

"You guys were serious about that?" moaned Haruhi. Her shoulders slumped so severely that her book bag fell off. Tamaki took no notice of her reaction and carried on as if she had been dazzled by his remark.

"Today you shall be taught how to be elegance personified!"

After checking her watch, Haruhi mumbled, "I have homework to do…" However, one of Mori's hands firmly placed on the girl's shoulder instantly stopped her in her tracks.

"We just want you to be a girl, Haru-chan," Hani said sweetly.

"I _am_ a girl!"

"Yet there's so much you don't know," snickered Kaoru as he and his twin descended on either side of her.

"And we can teach you," Hikaru added.

"And _we'll_ be your teachers tomorrow," they said in unison, nuzzling her coloring cheeks before backing off. Haruhi then turned to the Shadow King for help since it was obvious everyone else was against her. Kyouya, however, offered no reaction whatsoever to her situation; she could not even see his eyes past his reflecting glasses.

"I'll see you all tomorrow," he said evenly before Haruhi could call out for rescue. He left, and the twins and Hani zipped over to the couches to watch.

And so began her lesson. Although roughly half of her hour-and-a-half class was taken up by Tamaki's useless, flowery language, he did teach her how to curtsy, the feminine way to greet the elite class (and possibly did it better than Haruhi, which was disturbing on several levels), how to dance the girl's part, and how to react in several situations involving less-than-desirable company (using the twins for these examples).

It was the longest hour-and-a-half of her life.

The dancing she did not mind, even when the other five hosts made a big ruckus vying to be her partner. By the end of her lesson, Haruhi had no idea what was left to teach her, but Hikaru and Kaoru gleefully told her Femininity 101 would continue tomorrow, same time.

As Haruhi left the music room, the first thing her wandering mind settled on was, strangely enough, Nekozawa. She wondered if he thought of his math class the same way she found these new femininity classes: drawn-out and almost unbearable. Was Haruhi as overpowering a teacher as Tamaki? Maybe all of Nekozawa's poorly concealed signs of pain were excuses to leave…. Lately it had been his back that had been hurting in addition to his arm, but he always laughed it off saying he was fine. _Something_ was going on.

-----

Nekozawa, in his candle-lit room, flipped through spell book after book, trying to ignore the piercing pain in the back of his skull. It was nothing like the worst headache imaginable. It was far more painful. So as his vision was still not completely blurry, he persevered, knowing all these pains were not coincidence.

Bereznoff told him it was all in his head, caused by anxiety of the upcoming test.

Nekozawa told him to shut up.

And he searched on for answers.

-----

Oh, how the twins remind me of Fred and George Weasley. It makes me happy. Anyway, thanks to everyone who suggested costumes for the ball! They were very helpful!


	5. Tuesday

**Chapter 5**

Tamaki incessantly drummed his pencil on his desk, his head propped on one hand and his eyes staring at the far wall— or more like through the far wall and into something else entirely. He was oblivious to everything: the teachers, the lessons, and the nuisance he was being to Kyouya, who was constantly flashing evil looks in the pencil's direction. Girls in nearby seats quietly twittered that he must be thinking of extraordinary ideas, far too grand to be understood by the mere mortals in the room ("He's _definitely_ working out world peace!" "No, he's figuring out how to end global hunger— it's obvious!"). Kyouya, however, thought differently.

"Has your inner mind theatre finally run off with you?" he asked, absolutely no curiosity in his voice, as the other students left for lunch.

"No, I was thinking of the ball… sort of planning," replied Tamaki with less self-importance than usual. He popped out of his chair and made to follow the rest of the class, noticing the usual small group of whispering girls waiting in the doorway instead of his friend's raised eyebrows. Kyouya caught his president's arm and swung him back around in what looked like a strange ho-down move.

"Planning? Do tell."

A roguish grin spread across Tamaki's face. "Okay, picture this: for the most romantic major, I dance with Haruhi! And then we go out on the town, she makes me an obento somewhere in there and somehow her dad shows up…"

Kyouya rolled his eyes and pushed the bumbling Tamaki toward the girls waiting to escort him to lunch.

-----

"I'm glad to see you learned something yesterday," smiled Renge as they reviewed the last lesson: pulling chairs out for ladies, escorting, and complementing (which he nearly failed miserably at). "For today, how about dancing? What kind of dances were you taught at home?"

Nekozawa scratched his head through his hood. "Well, um… the robot… I think I know all the steps to the electric side, but Kirimi does it better. And, don't tell anyone, but… the bunny hop." And Bereznoff smacked his little forehead.

Renge visibly grimaced. "Do you know any _less-embarrassing_ dances? Like the waltz? Not even a tango?" Nekozawa shook his head slowly.

"Have you been living under a rock all these years?" she mumbled with a few _tsk_s thrown in here and there. But with her picking and complaining, she showed him those less-embarrassing dances and in return was instructed on the perfect execution of the robot arm swing.

They were both robotically arm-swinging to no music when a knock came from the Black Magic Club door and Haruhi stuck her head in.

"Semp--oh. I didn't realize you were busy," she said quickly. "Shitsure shimasu."

Nekozawa gave a shriek that made Haruhi poke her head back in. "Am I late for our session?!"

"No, not at all! It's the lunch hour still," the host corrected in the same tone, checking her own watch. "Sorry to have frightened you."

"Wait… what did you… uh… di-did you need something?" His brain wanted to ask so many questions that it was hard to get just one out.

"I just wanted to hand over some more practice sheets I found. I knew I had more, I just didn't come across them yesterday. Sorry about that," Haruhi said as she offered several papers to the president.

He took them with something resembling a smile. "You made a special trip just for me?"

"Well, this is most likely test material," she replied flatly. "Kind of important. And I expect all of these done by today's lesson. No excuses." And with that she left.

Renge stared at the doorway long after the host had gone, a dreamy look in her distant eyes. "That Haruhi-kun is just so… _adorable_, isn't he?"

"Yeah… she is."

Luckily both were somewhat out of their minds then and what the other said did not register. Bereznoff heard them both, though, and shook his head disapprovingly.

-----

The twins sat down across from Tamaki, who was grandly declining a first year girl's request for a major dance. Kyouya was next to him, eating imported Russian soup with one hand and scribbling down almost random notes with the other. Both upperclassmen seemed to ignore the brothers even after the girl had gone until Kaoru spoke up.

"Tono, about our lesson with Haruhi tonight…"

"It's going to be exclusive," added Hikaru.

"Just her and us."

Tamaki nearly choked on his own spoon while Kyouya glanced up at them over his glasses.

"You doppelgangers will do no such thing!" the president declared, picking up a fork and pointing it at them. "You're already a bad influence on my precious daughter!"

"Relax, Tono," sighed Hikaru boredly. "This is for her benefit."

"We promise we'll behave," Kaoru said in the tone he generally used when he was lying.

Before Tamaki could retort, Kyouya spoke up. "Where are Hani and Mori? They said they had plans…"

"Not plans for the ball…" the twins chorused, grinning.

-----

One blond head peeped around a corner followed by a dark head above it, both wearing sunglasses. Despite Mori's objection, Hani wore the dark glasses best used for safely staring directly into the sun for hours. So in the halls of Ouran, he was as good as blind. Strangely, he led the way to the Black Magic club room, and made it after smacking into countless walls, nearly tripping down some stairs, and wandering into the girls bathroom.

Mori halted his cousin in front of a pair of doors. "We're here."

They had heard Tamaki gush on about commoner's spying tricks, one involving pressing glasses to doors to hear better. Thinking this smart, they raided the cafeteria and had two long-stemmed, crystal wine glasses to connect their ears to the door. Luckily Nekozawa and Renge had no concept of "indoor voices" and the seniors could hear them as clearly as if they were in the same room ("Commoners think of everything!" Hani grinned triumphantly).

"Now what's your problem when you talk to this girl?" they heard Renge ask.

"Everything. I can't talk right, I can't look at her, I… shut up!"

"Excuse me?"

"Oh, not you. Bereznoff."

"Well, anyway, it sounds like you're crushing!" The seniors both grimaced at Renge's all too familiar giggle.

"That sounds painful. Is it a curse of some kind?"

"No! It means you really, _really_ like her. And since she's obviously not completely repelled by you, she must be pretty brave. …It's not Takeuchi Ami, is it?"

"No."

"Okay. So in front of such a strong woman, you feel slightly intimidated. You can't hide behind your black magic because you don't want to scare her, so you feel you have nothing to impress her with, either, am I right?"

"Yes."

"Is it Sato Erika?"

"No!"

"Good, she's as ugly as a hairless, half-breed Chihuahua. Now, let's see what we can do to build your confidence!"

-----

Even though Bereznoff loathed all these extra lessons he was forced to attend, he really did want to see his master succeed. So when Nekozawa slipped into the second reading room after school, the puppet encouragingly repeated several of Renge's confidence-gaining tips. And for the first time Nekozawa approached his regular table standing straight instead of his usual hunched position.

Haruhi smiled. "Hello, sempai. Did you have time to finish those problems?" The president coolly removed the papers from a pocket somewhere in his robes and handed them to her. After a quick check she perkily announced he got a little over half right.

Nekozawa crumpled onto the table, whining, "This is horrible! The test is in three days— I'll never get the hang of it!"

"No, you just have to be careful and take your time. See, here the decimal's in the wrong place, and here I think you divided instead of multiplied. For most people, the simple mistakes are what bring their scores down the most."

"Really?" the president asked, straightening. Her words were indescribable inspiration to him. "Is that what happens to you, Haruhi?"

"No, I try not to make mistakes." She glanced around the nearby tables before laying out her notes (not noticing Nekozawa's crushed demeanor). "I think you're memorizing your theorems well, so we won't focus on those today… keep it up, though…" Her voice faded when she looked up again and noticed someone two tables away (roughly fifteen feet) watching her through binoculars. Really, they were petite opera glasses, but Hani excitedly told Mori they worked. Haruhi just rolled her eyes and returned her attention to Nekozawa.

-----

The seniors rushed to the third music room before Haruhi and reported their evidence to the twins, the only other hosts there, occupying one of the couches.

"He likes her!" Hani smiled confidently, arms stretched above his head. Mori nodded when the brothers looked to him for a second opinion.

"How much?" Hikaru questioned with a disbelieving expression. Mori instantly held his hands about a foot apart in measurement, and Hani reported it.

"_A lot_! He's even meeting with Renge-chan to help him act confident around Haru-chan!" The news seemed to excite Hani, who had not dropped his smile since talking, but the other three wore glum faces. "_And_ they're planning a sleepover!" The twins jumped to their feet, wide-eyed and open-mouthed.

"All-nighter," Mori corrected, though it did nothing to ease their shock.

"When?!" they demanded.

"They didn't say," shrugged Hani before his attention began wandering about the room, no doubt in search of cake.

"Obviously a familiar plan," Mori added gravely. Hikaru and Kaoru exchanged worried, crazed glances. Before they could strategize a whole battle plan, the second years entered, Haruhi right behind them, being lectured by Tamaki about something-or-other.

"Oh, good, you're all here," Kyouya began upon noticing the others. Whether from curiosity or ingrained behavior, all the hosts gave him their full attention.

"As the last major dance of our balls is always the most important, it will be auctioned off to the highest bidder, as well as all the minors of that last hour. And I was thinking we could get a good amount for the midnight slot—"

"NO!" Tamaki and the twins screamed simultaneously.

The president clutched his breast as if mortally wounded. "You can't _auction off_ our most romantic dance! Think of all the heartbroken damsels who had their overreaching hopes set on dancing the Midnight Major with us!" He rambled on and everyone tuned him out. Haruhi blinked at Kyouya, one eyebrow raised.

"The midnight dance is always called the most romantic," he informed her as he readjusted his glasses. "All majors have different titles of importance."

"I think you're just making stuff up now," sighed the girl skeptically before slumping off to a couch to wait.

-----

To her surprise, after the club had closed and Haruhi had reluctantly found Hikaru and Kaoru for her next lesson, they told her to go home. She was somewhat worried about their mischievous expressions but quickly turned her mind to more important matters on the walk and train ride home. Important matters like dinner and cleaning. Her father was working at the bar tonight, so she just had to make one helping of whatever was still in the fridge.

When Haruhi reached her apartment door, however, her future plans vanished and her full attention returned to the present. The door was open a crack. Her dad would have left hours ago and he was not so careless as to not close the door completely. Cautiously, Haruhi swung it open and entered. The moment she reached the kitchen, her tense expression relaxed, for there stood the Hitachiin twins, inspecting and critiquing the architecture. They were both missing their blue jackets and Kaoru was not wearing his tie; Hikaru's was loose.

"Oh, you're finally home!" called Hikaru, bounding over and hugging her.

"What are you doing here?" the girl demanded with a serious glint in her tired eyes.

"We're here for your next Femininity 101 lesson," smiled Kaoru, also nearing her. "And in case you're wondering, we let ourselves in with the spare key."

"We don't have a—" Haruhi was cut off when Hikaru held up a key.

"But Kyouya did," he said with a smile identical to Kaoru's. The girl's shoulders drooped slightly.

"Well, if you had already planned to come here, why didn't you give me a ride and save me some train money?!" Haruhi accused fiercely. The twins just pushed her toward her room telling her to change into something girly and to stop living in the past. She came out minutes later in knee-high socks, boots, short skirt and blousy tank top.

"I want my old clothes back," she grumbled as the twins took her hands and sped off for their limo.

They took her to a high-class shopping mall (which looked more like a fortress) near the heart of Tokyo. The shops inside were mainly Western designer clothing stores, and the food court was made up of several five star restaurants.

"Do you come here often?" Haruhi almost gasped, trying not to gawk at the unnecessary grandeur of the place.

"When we're bored," they sighed.

"But today we're here for your lesson: associating with the ultra-elites," Kaoru explained.

"You may be a natural in the club," added Hikaru, "but you've got to step up your game."

"Plus we wanted to see you in some dresses."

They took her into a large store with walls mostly made up of windows, a few mannequins strategically placed about the floor wearing clothes that might have just come from a runway show, and other clothes on hangers along the walls. The store had a feeling of sparseness that was almost depressing.

"Hm, this is from the '05 spring show, isn't it?" Kaoru asked his brother as they inspected the first mannequin they came to.

Hikaru eyed the ruffles and pastel colors with distaste. "Yes, and I _still_ think it needs more brown. As it is, nothing brings it together— completely mismatched." Haruhi stared at them, wondering if she should feel awe or pity.

"Hikaru, Kaoru! It's good to see you again!" shouted the only worker (and only other person) in the store. The woman, who looked mid-forties with at least two layers of makeup to hide her otherwise average face, strutted over wearing something close to a feathery evening gown. _Their mother's dresses would feel at home here…_

"Mai-san!" they called back, fake-kissing her cheeks. Mai propped her arms on their shoulders and stared at Haruhi. She reminded the girl of the twins' mom, except their mother seemed to have natural beauty while this woman's impressive features came mostly from makeup.

"Who's this?"

"Friend of the family," smiled Hikaru. "_Powerful_ friend of the family. We thought we'd show her our favorite shop." Mai grinned.

"Bring her to the changing rooms."

Her first dress was a simple, long, black, strapless evening dress that showed beyond any shadow of a doubt that Haruhi had no curves. And upon seeing the price ($30,000), she was glad to take it off. She was also dressed in a foofy aqua costume (with sequins) that resembled a ballet outfit; the twins, sitting on an expensive bench outside the dressing rooms, input their complements. They gestured for her to talk to Mai more when the woman inquired about the dresses and if she would care to purchase any.

By the sixth outrageous outfit, Haruhi finally blurted, "I maxed out my credit card last week in Greece and daddy won't let me buy anything over $5,000 until it's paid off." Mai frowned knowing she would not make a sale now, but the twins, smiling, gave her the thumbs up.

"_That's_ the kind of lingo we want to hear," Kaoru said as all three strolled arm-in-arm past several similarly large shops.

"If you talk like that this Friday, you'll definitely fit in," added Hikaru proudly. "Now, where else should we go to practice?" Haruhi stopped walking and the twins were yanked to a halt.

"What's wrong?" they asked in a semi-curious tone. She was nearly glaring.

"Why should I fit _your_ mold? I'm not part of your society— why lie?"

"It's our party," they shrugged.

"It's shallow, guys. Why not let me be me… or like last festival, my cousin? I've survived in your world on my own this long, I think I can make it through Friday."

"It's not our world, either," Hikaru said with a hint of bitterness.

"There's only one other person in _our_ world," added Kaoru as both brothers held her arms tighter.

"But we really _would_ like you to be more girly for the ball," he continued and started her walking again.

Hikaru nodded. "So we'll be stopping at a few more stores…"

"Trying on a few more dresses…"

"And sharpening your conversational skills! You really need to learn how to chit-chat."

Haruhi vented a frustrated sigh. "Rich people!"

"Just think of it as a whole new world…" Kaoru's voice faded as he glanced at his grinning brother. Haruhi then found herself being serenaded to a song from some cartoon musical she vaguely remembered, and her head sunk to her shoulders as other shoppers stared.

She did not like musicals, and this lesson was going to be longer than yesterday's. Friday night was definitely not worth this cruel and unusual torture.

-----

I want to see stories of "a day in the life of…" for guys in the clubs. I think it'd just be fun. Are there any stories like that here?

So anyway. Nekozawa is not in there as much as I want him to be… and it sounds weird when I say it like that, but it's true. I want to put him more in the next few chapters, but we'll see if he really has more time. XD; But it's a chapter like this that wants the pairing to be HaruxTwins. But it can't. So now I'm a little depressed. LoL. But give it 5 minutes and I'm sure it'll pass…


	6. Wednesday

**Chapter 6**

Kyouya closed the door to his locker (which was about the size of a grand broom closet; many students complained they were far too small) and slipped his book bag over his shoulder. He was about to head toward his first class when he noticed a yellow-clad girl lurking suspiciously in front of Haruhi's locker.

"Renge-san?" he greeted, stepping in between the otaku and Haruhi's locker door as if shielding it.

"Kyouya-sama! Good morning… what are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same thing. I didn't think your locker was around here," he said, glancing down at the folded note in her clenched fist.

"Oh, I just wanted to ask Haruhi-kun… about Friday."

"About a major?" guessed Kyouya, an all-knowing, almost smug look on his features. To this, all Renge could do was nod fangirlishly.

"How's Haruhi's last major sound to you?"

Renge almost did not have enough air to gasp. She looked in shock. Ecstatic, but in shock.

Kyouya smiled. "Good. The auction will be during club hours today. Bids start at one thousand." With that, he left her to tear up her note with a giddy laugh and throw it like confetti.

-----

"So," Kaoru announced stiffly once he and Hikaru arrived at their classroom and claimed their respective seats on either side of Haruhi (she was always there before they were), "we have it on good authority that Nekozawa likes you." Haruhi did not even try to suppress a chuckle.

"Have you been reading Renge's fanfiction again?"

"Not since the one of Tamaki and me," Hikaru said with a shudder.

"We have unquestionable, certifiable proof— _hard evidence_— collected by Hani and Mori that shows it," said Kaoru. Haruhi stopped emptying her book bag to stare at the twins, unconvinced.

"I just help him with math. Tomorrow is our last day together because Friday is his test," she informed them calmly. "I would appreciate it if you just left him alone until after that."

"So you like him too?!" Hikaru gasped. Haruhi rolled her eyes but retained a patient air.

"No, but he has enough worries as it is. If you add to them, he might start cursing you." This was not a threat but a well-concluded truth. "And remember what happened last time when you only _thought_ he cursed you?" At that, the twins sat down and argued no more, but their mutinous expressions remained firmly in place.

Since Haruhi was beyond reasoning with, the brothers consulted the seniors at lunch, planning their counterattack as Tamaki tried to listen in.

-----

Renge had brought several of her staff with her to meet Nekozawa: a tailor, a family fashion designer, and the designer's assistant, who was also a therapist. Poor Nekozawa was right in the middle of it, being measured, inspected and prodded by all three while Renge stood off to the side, shouting words of encouragement.

"They'll make you a _fabulous_ costume, Nekozawa-sempai! They'll even make you look non-threatening and approachable!"

The president forced a smirk while Bereznoff cringed uncontrollably.

"What's wrong with the way I look now?" he cried, hunched and harassed. Renge, who was suddenly on her (diamond-studded) cell phone, did not hear him, while her assistants, who did, laughed. After a couple minutes of silence, Renge closed her phone with an excited squeal.

"That was my banker!" she announced to the room, though the occupants could not have cared less. "With all the money I have that father will let me spend, there's no _way_ I'm being outbid! Haruhi-kun's last dance is _mine_!"

"What?" Nekozawa immediately squawked. He was so surprised that he forgot about the tailor trying to remove his hood to measure his neck.

"Oh, Kyouya-sama told me the hosts' dances would be auctioned off today. And I'm bidding on Haruhi-kun! I bet he's the most graceful out of all of them… he's so modest and…" Renge rambled on, listing all of her favorite host's best qualities (of which most were guesses, like Haruhi's favorite vacation spot being the Himalayas).

With swiftness the fashion attendants would have never guessed Nekozawa capable of, he threw off the measuring tape from around his neck, pulled up his hood, and somehow simultaneously pushed all the three paid nitpickers back at least a foot. In the stunned silence that followed, the president's order of "This lesson is over; get out," rang clearly throughout the room. Of course, having put on his creepiest voice, he got immediate results: Renge's assistants were gone in the next two seconds. Renge herself, however, stopped in the doorway.

"Will we continue tomorrow?" she asked cautiously. Nekozawa kept his back to her.

"I am no longer in need of your help," he told her simply.

Bereznoff did not bother to ask what brought about this mood swing in his master; he was too busy basking in the warmth of glorious vindication, however little it really amounted to.

Nekozawa did not notice the puppet's celebration because he was so deep in his own thoughts: He had been so stupid about the ball. He actually planned on dancing with Haruhi. How was that going to be possible when Haruhi was supposed to be a guy? And since Renge wanted to dance with her, even Ouran's resident otaku would not appreciate two boys dancing together. Really, all he could do a the ball would be just to talk, so why get all dressed up and wait for Haruhi's short breaks in between songs to share a conversation of only a few lines?

Nekozawa crumpled into an ornate gothic chair in the middle of the room. How had he not realized all this before? Renge was right: he _was_ crushing. And that clouded his judgment and reasoning so he never even thought about the obvious: this was not going to work. With a heavy sigh (laden with a surprising amount of disappointment), Nekozawa brought his free hand up to cover his eyes and just sat there, contemplating on how much of a fool he had been.

-----

"Sempai, you're late," Haruhi said with a worried expression. "Are you all right?" She watched Nekozawa drop into his usual seat across from her in the second reading room and wondered what had changed him from the almost confident guy he was yesterday.

"I'm fine," he mumbled. His hood hid more of his face than usual. "I guess I just lost track of time, s'all." The president added an apathetic shrug. "So, what are we going over today?"

Haruhi presented him with two problem sheets, a confident smirk on her face. The smirk flickered and quickly dropped as Nekozawa flew through them without much apparent consideration. Upon reviewing them, she found a vast majority wrong. Haruhi set everything down and leaned on the table.

"Sempai, is something bothering you?" Even though he was not looking at her, he could tell she was concerned. When Haruhi was not given an answer, she continued, "These were problems you've already mastered before— there's no reason for you to get them wrong. So _something_ else must be on your mind." Bereznoff nodded in agreement at the logical conclusion.

"I was just thinking about Friday."

"…The ball?"

Nekozawa hesitated before retorting, "No, the test. I've got mixed feelings…" Haruhi sat back in her chair, a quizzical look on her face. And still Nekozawa remained hunched with his hood hiding most of his features.

"I don't understand," she said quietly. Nekozawa did not completely understand why (and Bereznoff was beyond lost at this point), but he could not stand being next to her any longer; he bolted up and out of the reading room.

It felt almost refreshing to be in the deserted hallway— especially _running_ down the hall— and Nekozawa was beginning to think he was free… when something snagged his wrist. He looked back to find a glaring Haruhi (Nekozawa was also not a fast runner).

"Listen here," she said in an authoritative tone. "I have been devoting hours each day for the past two and a half weeks to help you with this and I am not about to see you throw all your practice away now, when you're so _close_, because of some little problem that's suddenly popped up. You've worked so hard for this and it shows! And now more than ever these study sessions count for every minute." Haruhi gave a little huff. "I want you to succeed and I want to help you succeed. Please…"

A moment of silence passed as they just stared at each other, Haruhi's gaze determined, Nekozawa's unsure.

"So," she continued. "What do you want to do?"

Nekozawa had left his brain back in the Black Magic club room, he was sure of it, because he was obviously not thinking when he wrapped his free (Bereznoff-occupied) arm around Haruhi's waist and pulled her tight against his own body. Immediately she dropped his other wrist and he lifted that hand to tilt her head upward. And he kissed her full on the mouth. Haruhi remained limp and wide-eyed for a few seconds until, with what little strength her unresponsive mind could muster, she tried to push away. She would have never guessed Nekozawa to be the strong type, but there was no way she was getting out of his grasp. So her hands remained on his shoulders and he continued to kiss her.

And what a kiss. Haruhi had never felt anything like it (since the accident with what's-her-name way back when did in no way count). It made her feel all warm and tingly inside, and she finally realized what Tamaki meant by "cute fuzzies." Nekozawa's lips were soft and so firmly against hers she thought she would be pushed over soon, but his arm kept her pinned to him and Haruhi could not recall ever feeling so safe.

It was over before she knew it—just when she was getting into it—and Nekozawa stood there with a victorious gleam in his eye. Surprisingly, it was Haruhi who reddened.

"Uh… I think I sh-should go n-now," she mumbled quickly as she tried to get a hold of her senses. "I'll, um, see you tomorrow?" This time when she pushed away, Nekozawa immediately let her go and watched as she hurried off toward the Music wing.

-----

Haruhi had been sitting next to the doors of the third music room about ten minutes before Kyouya arrived to unlock them.

"Shouldn't you be tutoring someone right now?" he asked casually as he opened a door and entered. Haruhi followed.

"Seeing as how you're on top of everything that goes on here, I think you already know," she responded. Even having ten minutes by herself to sort through her feelings had not been long enough to calm herself and she was still heavily distracted by the same memory replaying in her head.

"In your case, my chief informants were Hani and Mori," said Kyouya, switching on the lights. "But today's Wednesday, and Wednesdays they visit the martial art clubs." He set his ledger on a random table and looked back at the girl who was slowly, absently wandering over to a couch. "So why don't you tell me what happened?"

"Why do you think something happened?" Haruhi herself found that unconvincing. But Kyouya did not mind playing along.

"You show up a half hour early with no books, looking somewhat shaken, and completely avoid talking about Nekozawa. I conclude something happened." He leaned on the table, arms folded across his chest, waiting expectantly. Haruhi had to keep herself from fidgeting under his focused stare.

"I'd rather not talk about it."

Kyouya pushed his glasses back in place as he observed Haruhi, who was uncharacteristically… glum. She looked uncomfortable and distracted, a combination the vice president had never seen in her. _Something_ had happened.

"Well," he announced finally, "you'd better think up a believable cover story because everyone else won't just let it drop." Haruhi looked up at him and gave a quick nod.

"You're right. What should I say?"

"Don't ask me," Kyouya said with a smirk as he eased himself into the closest chair and fished his ledger from across the table. "I don't know the particulars, so come up with one yourself." And he proceeded to ignore her.

Haruhi's head sunk a little but she did try to come up with an excuse. Though not a very creative girl, she thought of a couple possible lies… until the real reason rammed back into her head, pushing all other thoughts out. Haruhi was a little disappointed to find how her first kiss (with a boy) was affecting her so. She was supposed to be practical, even logical. Now she was turning into a mini version of Renge (which would scare any of the guys).

Finally, about ten minutes before the other hosts were to arrive, Haruhi pushed herself off the couch and, with some hesitation, made her way over to Kyouya's table.

"Sempai?" At Haruhi's strangely unconfident tone, he looked straight at her, his notes discarded for the time being.

"What would you do if your friends didn't like someone who liked you?"

Kyouya gestured for Haruhi to sit in the chair across from him because if she grew any more nervous, she might just fall over.

"In this hypothetical situation," he began generously, "would _I_ have any feelings for this 'someone' despised by my friends?"

Haruhi meant to say something like "a little," but what come out was, "More and more by the minute." Kyouya vented a humored snort.

"If they were respectable friends, I'd look into why they don't like my admirer. There might be a sound reason for their disapproval. However, if they were the hosts, I'd say screw 'em."

Haruhi blinked at his bluntness. "But… aren't the hosts your friends, too?"

"Yes, I just wouldn't trust them in this area, considering." He fell silent, returning to his notes, and Haruhi stared off into space, deep in thought.

When she finally phased back to reality, she smirked. "I didn't think you'd be so much of a romantic, sempai, to put your admirer before your friends." This time Kyouya did not look up from his notes when he answered.

"I thought we were talking hypothetically. In reality, for an admirer to interest _me_, she would have to have the proper family and upbringing and inheritance, as well as a suitable job in the future to match mine." He glanced up to see Haruhi staring at him judgmentally. "Her pedigree must not only impress my father, but also the business community we regularly interact with. In all likelihood, it will be an arranged marriage with a similarly prosperous family, no doubt as a way to merge businesses as well."

"That's not right!" Haruhi suddenly burst out. "You should be able to love and marry anyone you want for no other reason than to spend the rest of your life together. Business shouldn't even come into play in decisions like this!" Kyouya would have laughed if her expression had not been dead serious.

"One man did that," he replied almost in a drawl. "He married a woman whose status was barely higher than a commoner's—against his family's wishes—and though his business is doing fairly well, his work principles dissuade many prospective clients."

Haruhi arched a brow, curious.

"You know the man: Nekozawa's father. He never personally does business in the evenings or Sundays because he wants to spend more time with his family. Growing up, he was the example given when I was taught how _not_ to arrange my priorities. If he _had_ married a woman of similar status, he would have her business as well and be twice as wealthy. At least then he could afford a suitable lifestyle for the status he should be living."

Haruhi was almost glaring. "Nekozawa's parents are nice, and _I_ thought she looked just as rich as his dad."

"You would."

"And from how kids around here talk about their parents, Nekozawa's actually _care_ about him."

"At the expense of the business. Their priorities are misplaced."

"_Yours_ are!"

Just then a door flung open and Tamaki jumped into the room, arms outstretched, shouting, "Tadaa!" Haruhi stood to march away but Kyouya snatched her wrist and yanked her close enough to whisper, "Be careful where the dark arts are concerned." He then released her and returned to his ledger.

"So, Kyouya!" announced Tamaki, appearing next to the table. He wrapped an arm around Haruhi's shoulders and kept her there. "What are you going to teach our daughter tonight?"

Kyouya looked up and only at Tamaki. "No lesson. The twins told me of Haruhi's protests yesterday, and I have to agree. She's not some kind of show horse…. Anyway, there's really nothing left to teach her, and nothing left to be discussed."

-----

Nekozawa had been all but prancing about after Haruhi had scuttled off, not even caring about his strange leg pains now. He even had enough confidence to return to the reading room, find the problem sheets, and redo them. With Haruhi's answer paper, he found he got nearly all of them right. Nekozawa smiled at Bereznoff.

"See? She _is_ helping me."

-----

When the Host Club opened that day, it was complete and utter madness through the two hours until it closed. All auctions for the hosts' last dances were chaotic, and there was much screaming, distributing of lawsuits, and pulling of hair. By the time it was over, all the winnings were in dispute as several girls claimed to have the highest bid on each. Mori escorted (more like pushed) the squabblers out into the hall to settle it there because Kyouya had already recorded the rightful winners. Haruhi's highest bidder (at $14,500) was Renge. Surprisingly, instead of gloating and clinging rabidly to her prize, she ran home to find a dress.

"Kyouya-sempai," Haruhi began humbly as she approached him. "Maybe instead of teaching me how to behave at this ball, you can show me how to survive?"

-----

This chapter surprised even me. I usually don't write so fluffily. You guys should know by now I heart subtleness to the extreme, so I don't know why I wrote such fluff here. I blame the lateness. Oh well. Hope you liked anyway. XD


	7. Thursday

**a.n.** _Bijo to Yajuu_ equals "Beauty and the Beast." Fun fact. :) 

**Chapter 7**

The next day as Nekozawa crossed one of the courtyards headed for the wing his first class was in, he ran into Kyouya, who was walking straight toward him.

"Nekozawa-sempai, do you have a moment?"

-----

School was all abuzz about tomorrow's event, so much so that some of the teachers gave up trying to bring their students' attention back to the subject and instead asked things like what kind of costumes kids would be wearing. This thoroughly disappointed Haruhi, who had several questions still for her science teacher. She muttered that this was a terrible way to spend class, but the twins informed her that most students had private tutors or governesses, so losing learning time at school really did not matter. Haruhi slumped forward on her desk at the injustice of it all. If there was this much slacking going on the day _before_ the ball, then the day _of_ the ball would probably be the equivalent of either a day off, or the apocalypse.

(Except for those with tests. Like Nekozawa.)

Haruhi dragged a hand over her eyes, venting a sigh as she tried to rid her mind of that one memory. Nice as it was, it was distracting. Dangerously so. It was a good thing most teachers skipped their lessons that day or else Haruhi would have missed most of them.

Finally, the lunch hour rolled around and the twins hooked up with Haruhi's arms and escorted her to the cafeteria. Well, they escorted her out of the room before she wriggled free and walked by herself.

Always before major club events, all the hosts had to appear around school to "remind" the other students about the upcoming occasions. ("Why this blatant advertising?" grumbled Haruhi. "They already have the invitations.") But nevertheless, she sat at the host table and smiled patiently as her meal was continually being interrupted by chattering girls with an endless supply of questions. The most frequent inquiry she received was "What are you wearing to the dance?" to which Haruhi always glanced to Kyouya on the other side of the table and he always masterfully avoided her gaze.

So Haruhi smiled and replied, "Just wait and see if you can spot me."

-----

Now that Nekozawa no longer had classes with Renge, his lunch hour was free to devote to research. With several spell books open to random pages vaguely dealing with different hunches he had about what was plaguing him, he searched for answers. He was so involved that he lost track of time and studied through his last classes of the day. Of course that mattered little since he would not have learned anything anyway.

By the time Haruhi, after classes were over, knocked on the club door and peeped her head in, Nekozawa had enough information to jump up and shout, "I've got it!"

"Got what?" she asked, to which he started and gave a shriek.

"Haruhi! Er… Fujioka-kun… what are… um… here… why?" He tried to pull his hood down over his face further. Bereznoff wanted to smack him.

"You're nearly twenty minutes late for tutoring, so I came to see if you had forgotten…. What are you doing?"

"Oh, come in, come in! You're letting too much light in… thank you. Look what I've found!" Nekozawa slid the book he was holding across the floor to her feet. She picked it up and carried it over to where the only candlelight was: next to him on the floor.

Everything was written in some medieval European language.

"Isn't it great? It explains _everything_!" he smiled. When Haruhi gave him a blank stare, he continued. "I'm being cursed by a voodoo doll! That's why I've been in such pain all over for this whole week… that's why my back is killing me right now!" For informing her of this somewhat serious subject, he seemed pretty excited.

"Maybe you should put some ice on it?"

"Won't do any good." He distractedly read (upside down) the book in Haruhi's hands and gave an "Aha!" as he pointed to a passage halfway down the page on the right. "Here, it tells all about it!"

"So who's doing this to you?" the girl asked with widening eyes. Nekozawa shrugged, still wearing his rarely seen, gleeful smirk.

"I have absolutely no idea. But it's someone who bought from me; this just _feels_ like a Bereznoff voodoo doll." Haruhi blinked. After a moment of silence (slightly awkward on the host's part), Nekozawa seemed to finally remember why she was there and started again.

"Oh… Haruhi, om… about tutoring." He paused to pluck up some courage. "I can't really see you anymore."

"Really? Why?" Her tone sounded not only confused but also slightly offended. Nekozawa distracted himself by collecting all his diversely shaped spell books into one erratic pile.

"Well, you see, that's kind of… out of the question… now." He snatched the book from her hands and stacked it on top of the pile.

"What do you mean?" questioned Haruhi, a disbelieving expression plastered on her face. "Are you talking about what happened yesterday?" She watched as he picked up his small tower of books, the top one held in place with his chin, and maneuvered them halfway across the room to the table.

"In a way," he replied quietly, only half facing her once his arms were free. "I guess that's why I'm not allowed-- er… why I've got a new tutor."

"Who?" demanded Haruhi, now quite offended.

"Hani-sempai," he mumbled. Haruhi blinked.

"You asked Hani-sempai to tutor you for your last session?"

"No, not exactly… oh, look at the time! You should be going now and I need to take something for my back," Nekozawa said quickly as he and Bereznoff turned her around and pushed her toward the door. "See you around, I guess… bye!" And they shoved her out the door and closed it behind her. Haruhi heard it lock.

The other hosts had to be behind this. They just had to. With a huff, Haruhi set off for the music wing, already forming her argument. About halfway there, the girl ran into someone with fiery red hair walking in her direction.

"Kasanoda-kun! I haven't seen you in awhile," she greeted with a small smile. The yakuza son seemed a little surprised to meet anyone in the halls, and glanced to and for almost guiltily.

"Haruhi? I thought you were tutoring that wizard kid right now. Or is he a mime…?"

"No, not anymore," Haruhi sighed, her almost disappointed tone going completely unnoticed by Kasanoda. His excited reply was much less subtle.

"Really? That's kinda great! I was hoping to run into you because I couldn't ask you at your club… that would be weird. I wanted to ask if I could dance with you tomorrow. I know it might look a little strange, but with the masks and all, maybe they won't know who we are…"

"My second major's open," Haruhi abruptly announced, somewhat unsure why she just gave a big dance away. Kasanoda, however, scratched the back of his neck.

"Your _what's_ open, now?" Haruhi barely stifled a chuckle.

"A major dance, one every hour. They're somewhat of a big deal around here."

And when the honor finally dawned on Kasanoda, he vigorously nodded his head and promised (on pain of death) to dance the second major with her.

By the time Haruhi reached the third music room, the doors were unlocked and Kyouya and the twins were already there. All three stopped and watched her as she entered.

"You're here early," purred the twins, slithering over to her.

"Nekozawa a lost cause?" Hikaru questioned.

"Or just boring beyond all imagination?" added Kaoru. They rested their arms on her shoulders and smiled.

"No, my job's done, apparently," Haruhi responded, her gaze flicking over to Kyouya, whose interest had previously returned to his ledger.

"Great!" Hikaru shouted in her ear. "Guess what _we've_ got?"

With an indifferent shrug, Haruhi guessed, "Hives?" There was a faint, poorly-stifled snort from Kyouya's direction, but the rest of his body made no movement to otherwise show he nearly laughed; Haruhi then doubted she had heard it in the first place.

"No," Kaoru replied, trying to suppress a chuckle as he brought a movie out from behind his back.

"_Bijo to Yajuu_? I'd rather read the book…" But she was carted off to a corner of the room where there was randomly a large, beautiful flat screen tv.

It only took ten minutes or so for the twins to become so thoroughly engrossed in the imported musical that Haruhi could safely sneak away. By then Hani and Mori had arrived and were occupying one of the dessert tables, well out of earshot of Kyouya, whom Haruhi headed straight for. Although his back was to her, Kyouya (being Kyouya), probably sensed the miffed girl (radiating miffedness) stalking for him, and closed his ledger, donned a caring expression, and turned to face her by the time she reached the table.

"You replaced me as Nekozawa-sempai's tutor?" It was more of an accusation than a question and it made Kyouya smirk.

"I did. And you're upset?" His remark, too, was more accusatory.

"I think it's pointless to switch me out on the _last_ day. What's one day?" She ignored his gestured invitation to sit down and continued to glare from above. Kyouya pushed his glasses back in place.

"Yes, what's one day? I fail to see what's upsetting you."

"You didn't tell me! I waited twenty minutes until I finally went looking for Nekozawa, only to find out I had been replaced!" responded Haruhi, voice rising. Kyouya watched her from heavily-lidded eyes, his all-knowing smirk firmly in place.

"So you're upset your time was wasted… or is it that you were embarrassed in the confrontation with Nekozawa?" Haruhi squirmed somewhat under his gaze. It was like he enjoyed watching her made uncomfortable, because of course he was doing it on purpose.

"No! I wanted to know why I'm no longer his tutor!" she countered quickly, though not masterfully enough to hide the gap between subjects.

"Well then. Why didn't you just say so in the first place?" A slight chuckle interrupted his speech. "I split you up to prevent anything from happening." Haruhi felt her cheeks growing warm but gave no reply. The observant vice president continued on.

"You see, I'm just trying to protect you from him. I know his math has drastically improved because of you, and I'm sure he's ready for tomorrow's test, but I feel any more private meetings with him would be unwise."

The warmth Haruhi now felt was somewhere inside her, fueled by anger at a friend unjustly accused. Her eyes narrowed.

"You might fear his black magic, but I don't. He won't do anything to me, I know it."

"It's not something he _will_ do, it's something he's already _done_," Kyouya replied firmly. Haruhi barely stopped a gasp from escaping. For someone whose informants were missing that day, the Shadow King certainly collected enough information. Or he was a dead-on guesser.

Kyouya stood, ledger under one arm and his other hand on Haruhi's shoulder. His all-knowing grin was back in full.

"Haruhi, you should listen to Mother and stay away from Nekozawa for the time being." His voice had a cocky, assured tone to it that assumed the order would be followed without hesitation. It made Haruhi want to tear off for the Black Magic Club doors immediately.

Before she had to respond, Tamaki flounced in and began babbling to Kyouya about the ball. Apparently, it was somewhat important because the Shadow King devoted his full, nonjudgmental attention to listening and released Haruhi's shoulder. Freedom regained, she headed for the seniors.

"Hani-sempai," Haruhi called once she reached the dessert-laden table. "Did you meet with Nekozawa-sempai already?" The little senior gave a smile covered in icing.

"Nope! We're going over his house after school. I hope Kirimi-chan has manga!" His boyish laugh echoed off the nearby wall as Haruhi forced a smirk.

"How long do you plan on tutoring him tonight?"

"I thought I'd give him a lot of homework papers like you do, and while he's working on that, I can read to Kirimi-chan!" Hani replied cheerfully, pleasantly swinging his little legs. Haruhi did not know who to feel more sorry for: Hani or Nekozawa.

"That's irresponsible, Mitsukuni," grunted Mori, to which Haruhi wanted to verbally agree (but kept it to herself). His cousin gave the cutest pout.

"But Takashiii! I really want to know if Noriko leaves Taro and goes back to Nao… after all, they were engaged in their previous lives (as discovered in _A Faraway Dream _vol. 5)!"

"Noriko was intended for Taro from birth in their first lives, but through swindling and blackmail, Nao bought her engagement," Mori countered quickly.

"But Taro doesn't respect her!" cried Hani, forgetting his cake for the moment. "Don't you remember in chapter thirty where—"

"Sempai!" Haruhi cut in, looking at both of them as if she were scolding a child. "What about Nekozawa-sempai?" Hani's face turned blank as if he never recalled talking about the Black Magic president. After a moment of silence, Hani trying his hardest to remember, Mori watching Hani, and Haruhi watching the both of them, the girl finally spoke up.

"I can help you, sempai, at Nekozawa's… and give you more time to read to Kirimi."

Hani never looked so thrilled talking about something other than cake.

-----

Surprising to Haruhi, the host club that day was the deadest it had been in the past two weeks. The twins (who got to finish watching _Bijo to Yajuu_ uninterrupted) told her nearly all their designators were home having their gowns designed.

After club hours, Haruhi followed the seniors to their shared limo and was driven to the Nekozawa mansion, hearing all about _A Faraway Dream_ the whole ride there. By the time they reached their destination, Haruhi knew everything about the manga's love pentagon, knowledge only privileged to the minority the series was popular among, and was happy to forget it when she stepped out of the limo. For the first time, Haruhi was hesitant approaching the front door (not because of the threatening appearance of the house due to the evening and scary shadow and animal noises, though).

Again, Kirimi beat the maid to the door, Bereznoff comfortably covering her arm like a long glove. A wide grin broke across her face.

"Loli-shota!" she cried and jumped into his arms. Hani hugged back with similar enthusiasm, happy flowers dancing all around them.

"Kirimi-chan! Do you have the next manga?" With an excited squeak, she grabbed his hand and pulled him inside. Haruhi and Mori entered and the senior began following his cousin with long strides.

"What about Nekozawa-sempai?" the girl called after them, to which Hani looked back and asked if she could take care of it.

"This way, please," said the pig-tailed maid, Kuretake, coming up from behind and directing her to the familiar, dark study.

Nekozawa's back was to her, apparently studying something in front of him by candlelight.

"Obocchama," Kuretake announced with a bow he did not see. "Your tutor is here." And she closed the door behind her as she left. Haruhi took a breath and proceeded. (What's there to be afraid of? He's only the guy who has threatened to curse have the school long past their grandchildren.)

"I'm caught up in nearly everything thanks to Fujioka-kun," Nekozawa began in his creepy voice as Haruhi made her way to the table. "So you needn't stay too lo—" His voice instantly trailed off into the faintest whisper when he saw Haruhi walk around the table and take her seat across from him. The president cast a quick glance back to the doors. "Is this okay?" he asked in the normal voice he usually used around her. "Ootori-kun never mentioned this… _you_… this morning."

Haruhi tried to look disinterested as she began fishing through her backpack for the right notebooks. "Is that so? Well, there's been a change of plans."

-----

The twins suspiciously snuck up to the front doors of the Nekozawa mansion.

"Mori-sempai should be with Kirimi, so we shouldn't run into Robed, Dark and Freaky," Kaoru said, half to himself. "So just ask to see Mori."

"You're not scared, Kaoru, are you?" snickered Hikaru. "This mission isn't too dangerous for you, right?" He rang the bell (which was skin-crawlingly eerie) as his brother shot him a glare.

"For other things Kyouya has sent us on, there was no chance of us being cursed, hexed, or spontaneously combusting," Kaoru argued. "And what did he mean when he told us not to make a 'scene' if we found something?"

-----

"Good job!" congratulated Haruhi as she looked over a couple of practice test papers. "You've got this down. Just keep a level head tomorrow, don't worry if you don't remember how to do one or two problems, and you should be great. You've improved so much; you should be proud." To this, Nekozawa smiled. Not the kind of grin that looked like he would gather enjoyment from torturing fellow classmates, but the smile Renge had worked with him on that communicated normal happiness and satisfaction. Haruhi smirked back, somewhat hesitantly.

"Haruhi, how can I repay you for this?" he asked, reaching out and grasping her hand. "You've saved me from failing this class, maybe even my future. …I have an assortment of stocks and bonds I could give you… but then again, nothing says 'thank you' like Bereznoff-shaped keychains! I have them in five different colors, too!" And out from under the table he brought a basket filled with colorful, plastic, mean-looking Bereznoffs.

Haruhi donned a polite smile. "No, really, that's okay… is that one red?"

"I'd call it maroon," replied Nekozawa, picking it up by the chain and holding it out to her. At his awkwardly growing smile, Haruhi began collecting her notes and papers and stuffing them back into her book bag, muttering something about having to go. Haruhi stood up and hurried around the table, but Nekozawa darted in front of her in a flurry of dark robes. With both hands lightly on her arms, he kept her close, but not touching.

"What's wrong?" he asked in a voice of true concern. "You haven't been yourself tonight."

After a pause, Haruhi reluctantly admitted, "It's kind of strange being around you now, since…"

"Since yesterday?"

The girl nodded. "That, and I feel like I'm being watched."

"Yeah, I feel that all the time," Nekozawa said quickly, almost lightly. "It's kind of like the disembodied voices: you get used to it after awhile." Haruhi paused, blinking at him.

"Was… was that a joke?"

And Nekozawa started laughing. Strangely, it was not a creepy laugh, but one that had a pleasant, contagious ring to it, and Haruhi found herself giggling too.

"Sempai—"

"You can call me Umehito if you want," he cut in. (Was it her imagination, or did the gap between them shrink somewhat?)

"I've never heard anyone at school call you that before," replied Haruhi slowly, as her body began showing clear signs of sluggish responsiveness. Nekozawa gave another Renge-approved smile.

"No one else at school has kissed me before," he practically whispered.

Haruhi blinked several times, trying to clear her head of the fog that was pleasantly invading. It was the thickness that slowed her mind and blotched out the rest of the world so it seemed like they two were the only ones in the house— in Japan— in the whole world.

The gap had shrunk once again and Haruhi found Nekozawa's forehead and nose resting comfortably against her own forehead. It even felt like he was nuzzling her a bit. He slipped his arms under hers and around her back, holding her in a warm hug.

"I never meant to make you feel uncomfortable," he told her softly, eyes closed. "I just wanted you to know that I really like you, and—"

"HANDS OFF!" The sound of a door banging open and two loud, nearly identical voices interrupted them right as the small gap was growing even more insignificant. Hikaru and Kaoru, with looks to kill (fierce glares unlike Haruhi had ever seen) stormed in. They grabbed their clubmate, who had jumped away from Nekozawa like a repelling magnet when they entered, and headed back for the door.

"If you take her…" Nekozawa's creepy voice began, but Hikaru turned on him, glowering.

"If you ever touch her again, you don't even want to _imagine_ what I'll do to _you_!" Haruhi, wearing an apologetic expression, watched the helpless president as she was lead out of the room by two fuming brothers. Only when they reached their limo did she realize she held a plastic keychain in her hand.

-----

Ooh! This was almost late! LoL. This was a busy weekend for me 'cause I moved back to college. Also, since Monday marks the beginning of the semester, my updates may not be weekly anymore. It'll all depend on how cruel the teachers feel like being. LoL. So just warning you in advance. But on the bright side, these chapters are getting longer. :)

And I don't like the twins anymore. :( Who's with me? Haha.


	8. Friday

**a.n.** Warning! This chapter is freaking. LONG. Read at your own risk… LoL.

**Chapter 8**

For the first time in her life, Haruhi did not feel like going to school. Last night on the ride home, the twins did not talk to her; they barely even looked at her. And today the rest of the club would be informed, if they were not already. Honestly, were they all in on it? Were they all conspiring to ruin her happiness? (She could just see Tamaki and the twins, chibi-fied, hovering over blue prints and grinning.) Haruhi had already admitted to herself that, for some reason or another, she _was_ happy around Neko… Umehito. Unlike the twins or Tamaki, he was not pompous in his approach, and he treated her with respect and thoughtfulness, not as a toy or a daughter-slash-resisting girlfriend. He was not out to tease, provoke, poke, or try to get a rise out of her. Umehito was just… normal. And his parents (his dad especially) did not freak her out.

Plus it was much easier to like him when it was more than obvious he liked her. …And that cute little _smile!_

-----

There was practically no one at school. At first Haruhi thought those select few came for the same reason she did: to hopefully learn something. But no, they were either there for tests or to catch a glimpse of a host or two in costume.

"Most teachers just called off today," Hani informed her when Haruhi arrived at the club (the first and second years were not speaking to her). "That's really helpful 'cause we're gonna have workers in here all day setting up for tonight."

"This event of yours is totally interfering with the entire workings of the school!" Haruhi cried, more to Kyouya than anyone else.

"Don't worry, Haru-chan!" called Hani, smiling sweetly. "Ouran includes rare events like these into their schedule planning. The teachers were expecting a day off sooner or later."

This school was weird. Haruhi glanced across the room to see Hikaru and Kaoru glaring identically at her from the couches. Tamaki seemed too angry (or confused) to even look at her, and Kyouya just added notes to his ledger. The girl approached the Shadow King and rested her book bag on the table he was sitting at.

"Sempai, my costume?" It was a cautious question. Kyouya gave a flick of his pen toward a random door, but after a moment he got up and bobbed his head in a way that told her to follow him. He opened that door for her, then closed it behind the both of them.

"Sempai?" Haruhi tested, watching him carefully as he walked past her into the ridiculously large, well-lit, furnished closet. He stopped a couple feet away and turned to look back at her, his eyes hidden by his reflecting glasses.

"I clearly remember telling you to stay away from Nekozawa," he began with as much emotion as he used when talking to one of his father's associates.

Haruhi had a sinking feeling.

"I even went so far as to assign Nekozawa a new tutor, only to hear from the twins that you were over his house last night." His voice remained relatively calm, yet his accusing tone made her shiver. "In his _arms_, no less." He tilted his head down and Haruhi could finally see his eyes— glaring at her. A controlled, businessman-like glare, but a glare nonetheless. "Mind telling me what you were doing?"

"This is all just a big misunderstanding," Haruhi said appeasingly.

Kyouya nodded in mock understandment. "Do tell." Even though she was fine with seeing the president of a rival (by some standards) club, most likely none of the other hosts would be.

"I was just walking to the door and Umehito-sempai stopped me to tell me something," she replied innocently. "Besides, if I want to help him with his class, I think I should be able to."

Kyouya stared at her, eyes widening somewhat. "I'm sorry," he began quickly, leaning forward, "but _what_ did you just call him?"

"Nekozawa-sempai?"

"That's not what I heard." With a final distrustful glance over her, he left the closet, roughly brushing past her shoulder.

Once he was gone, Haruhi breathed a sigh of relief, wandered over to the nearest furniture set and collapsed into a chair. She noticed two covered hangars on the rack running along the opposite wall and just stared as if she would be finally able to see the costumes underneath. They were the only objects in Haruhi's sights yet they were furthest from her mind.

Haruhi rested her head on a hand, focusing on the single question running over and over in her head: Where do we go from here?

-----

Nekozawa shot out of his math class and into the nearest dark corner. It was always too bright in that room. He bounded from one shadow to the next on his normal path for his club, an unusual spring in his step. By the time he reached the turn in the hall (and found refuge in the large, well-shaded corner), he heard a familiar voice call "Sempai!"

He looked.

And there she was, almost floating toward him in a dark robe not unlike his own, a bunch of dark roses in hand, smiling, and— wait. Suoh's imagination was contagious, apparently.

Haruhi approached slowly (in normal school uniform), her features full of all kinds of emotions, curiosity and apprehension the most noticeable.

Bereznoff glanced at Nekozawa, who wore an awkward smile (or was it a grimace?). Before Haruhi could ask anything, the president and puppet took off down the hall, suffering the light as they passed by each ridiculously tall window.

Haruhi frowned. Her clubmates had something to do with this.

-----

Back in the third music room, the guys were already hanging their covered costumes up around the room on random clothing racks. When the twins saw her, they turned up their noses and snobbishly exited stage left. Kyouya and the seniors seemed not to notice her, but Tamaki called her over to the middle of the room. He was sitting comfortably in a leather chair and gestured for her to sit on the therapist chair next to him.

Haruhi gave a frustrated huff but obeyed—though she did not lie down.

"I think it's time," Tamaki began solemnly, "to have the talk." The girl's eyebrows were in a straight, low line across her expressionless face.

"Again?" The last time the president had attempted this, he began by talking about two dogs, but ended by recounting to Haruhi a horrible nightmare he had had where Antoinette was eaten by a giant toaster and came out a barking commoner's pop tart.

"This time, it's important," he replied seriously with a shake of his head to toss his hair in a bishoujo manga-esque way (the "benevolent king" toss, as named by Tamaki himself). "I want to talk to you about… life."

_He's… actually serious!_ Haruhi politely gave him her full attention. The president sighed and reclined in his chair, putting all his efforts into looking lordly.

"You see, since the beginning of time there has been love. Adam and Eve, Izanagi and Izanami, Romeo and Juliet. Sometimes you can't help with whom you fall in love with; Cupid has a twisted sense of humor. Consider all the famous romances in _all_ of history…"

And Haruhi's attention waned. She began to wonder if he was improvising this sickeningly beautiful speech or if he had spent days memorizing it. Either would be believable.

Several minutes and intellectual (though needless) quotes later, Tamaki finally got to his point: "Sometimes we are destined to be with the strangest of people, and we can't change that. We have to take what fate hands us… you know, roll with the punches." (Tamaki used new "commoner's lingo" as much as possible as soon as he learned it.) "So I just want you to know that although it would ease my parental heart if you didn't date until thirty, I can't interfere with destiny… or fate… or Cupid, so you should be able to love anyone you want."

Haruhi arched a brow. Tamaki was being strangely generous, though in his usual creepy way. It made her wonder what he had heard and what his real motives were. They had to be naïve, shallow motives because, after all, this _was_ Tamaki. Haruhi took a breath and decided to test the waters.

"So you'd be okay with Nekozawa-sempai?" she asked with large, imploring eyes (a "natural" look that would make her designators swoon). Tamaki was silent for a while, his face expressionless. Just as Haruhi braced herself for a tantrum of sorts, Tamaki surprised her by laughing. He was bent over in his chair, clutching his sides and laughing. He drew stares from his clubmates on the other side of the room.

"Ha-haruhi!" he wheezed, wiping a tear from his eye. "That was _good_— you practically had me there! _Nekozawa-sempai!_" And he laughed some more. "You have your father's wit!" (Meaning, of course, him.)

With slouched shoulders, Haruhi muttered, "Can I give it back?" Which caused him to laugh even more.

-----

Haruhi tried several times to ask Kyouya what had gotten into Tamaki's mind, but each time he was either busy directing workmen, or he was just skillfully evading her.

Soon (but not soon enough since the twins kept skulking around, glaring) it was time to don the costumes. Actually, Tamaki had been dashing about in his wig and makeup all afternoon, so when he finally put on the costume to become Jareth the Goblin King ("Is this blatant advertising for an event we've already _had_?"), there was not much difference. Tamaki looked almost exactly like him with the hair and even a contact to change one eye brown, but the twins teased him that he was lacking one feature (everyone but Haruhi got that).

"Tono, where's your mask?" asked Hikaru, straightening his brother's costume. They were both wearing their Cheshire cat costumes from the Alice in Wonderland episode.

"Do you really think anything should cover my incredible features? How will my lovely designators find me?" His dark, goblin-esque mask was dropped in his hands by Kyouya.

"You're the one who wanted this event. At least play along," he retorted, putting on his own white mask to finish his red Phantom of the Opera costume. Mori, in a samurai costume, joined the group with Hani on his shoulders. The little senior was dressed like a Kabuki actor with a long white wig and fierce face paint that made him look possessed by a lion spirit. Except for his grin that took up half his face.

"Haruhi's taking too long," grumbled Hikaru, glancing at the grandfather clock hogging the middle of the room. Kaoru nodded.

"We need to be out greeting the guests— they're already arriving."

"You guys can go," Hani called to them, "but _I_ wanna see Haru-chan's costume!"

The twins pouted; they were still mad at Haruhi, but they really wanted to see her costume, too.

Finally the door opened and out came Haruhi, robed in a long, purple toga, gold arm cuffs, sandals that strapped halfway up her legs, a wig that fell to her shoulders, and a gold covered mask covering the top half of her face that looked impressively masculine.

"This is something else from _Bijo to Yajuu_, isn't it?" she guessed.

Kyouya smirked. "No, that's Zeus."

-----

Although it was an hour before the ball actually started, the bulk of the guests were already showing up. Not long after that, the girls were gallivanting around trying to discover everyone's identity. They twittered around the twins the longest, trying to find differences in their clothes, ears, or feline masks covering half their faces. Of course, both brothers' hair was an identical shade of purple to match their costumes.

There were several uncreative and unoriginal people with the same kind of costumes, then some with outrages ones, like one girl (Haruhi figured it was one of her designators) who was dressed up as ootoro.

As Haruhi wandered around the main hall, she felt a tap on her shoulder. Turning, she found a girl who looked like a fairy princess: a long, sparkly gown, sparkly wings, sparkles on her mask and in her soft, curly hair, and even sparkles on her skin. If you put her on the beach in the dead of night, she could safely lead ships to shore.

Haruhi's eyes finally widened. "Oh, Kaho-san?" The girl's face (or at least the visible part) broke into a smile.

"You passed me by twice, so I thought I'd stop you this time."

Haruhi gave an apologetic grin. "I like your costume. You're very… bright."

"Yours is great, too! Let me guess. Zeus?" Haruhi's smile dropped and she just stared. With a giggle, Kaho took the host's hand and led the way into the main ballroom, since all the students seemed to ignore the fact that this dance was school-wide, and congregated there. She clung to Haruhi's arm the entire time until the first major.

At first it was only the hosts and their partners dancing to the catchy, fast paced song, but all the other students quickly joined.

"Isn't this exciting?" Kaho commented, looking around at the nearest couples. "Have you given out all your majors yet?"

"No, I have a couple left," Haruhi replied distractedly, keeping an eye on her clubmates to make sure she was following the steps right.

"Like… the midnight major?"

The host's attention returned to Kaho. "Um, yes, that's one of them. Why do you ask?" Kaho's smile returned.

"Oh, just wondering. Although the fist and last dances are the most important, I think the midnight one is. It's the most romantic, you know."

Kaho chatted on for the rest of the song, which lasted close to ten minutes. When it was over and the students applauded, Kaho remained near her host as if going to be asked to dance again, but just as the orchestra were finding a new piece, another one of Haruhi's designators wearing a similarly sparkly angel costume crashed between them and ran off with Haruhi.

The other hosts were operating just fine in this, their natural habitat. For the upperclassman, they either had swishy capes or bulky costumes and yet they effortlessly, flawlessly cut across the floor in time with the sweet music and with perfect steps. Haruhi was almost jealous.

She was currently (a prisoner) dancing near one of the walls with a long buffet table of food, far from the other hosts and designators. This was something Kaho would do. And apparently, a ball turned all the girls into possessive snatchers, because for nearly the rest of the hour Haruhi (and the rest of her clubmates) were grabbed by other girls to dance like there were no other men present.

Finally she got a break during one song and camped out at the food table. And for once she took in the sights. All the high chandeliers, besides dripping with reflective jewels, were lit only by candles. Also there were candelabras spaced about the perimeter of the large room. The orchestra was on a stage on the far wall; with everyone in costumes and masks, the scene was almost enchanting… even for Haruhi.

A little Kabuki lion spirit popped up next to her before too long. "Haru-chan, Haru-chan! When do _I_ get to dance with you?" His hopeful eyes were hidden by the mask he wore (over his face makeup with similar markings).

"My second's already taken, so how about the third?" she suggested, re-filling her plate with crab.

"Yay!" the senior cried, arms out jubilantly. "That's the best one!"

_Apparently they're all the best._

"I promised Koizumi-san my second because she brought a whole cake for me!" he announced proudly. "I better go find her… it's going to start soon." And he scurried away, his large, dragging wig bouncing with each step.

Haruhi giggled a moment at her sempai before what he said dawned on her: the second major was nearing. She had given that dance to Kasanoda, and not only did she have to change clothes, but she had to _find _her partner in all this craziness. Students were starting to disperse around the school (while others were just arriving "fashionably late"), so this search would be difficult.

Haruhi tore back to the third music room, tossed the Zeus costume onto one of the closet tables and changed into her girl-costume. Then she set back out for the main ballroom— the best place to start.

Surprisingly, once there, she found Kasanoda with one glance at the dessert table. Getting there, however, would be another matter altogether. Around her, those elegantly loitering, partner-less students slowly moved out of her way as she walked, staring, and whispering amongst themselves. Haruhi could only catch snippets of what they said, like: "Who's she?" "Looks like a princess." "Transfer student?" "European?"

Of course Haruhi had seen the costume in separates, but not what it looked like altogether. Especially on _her_. (For the first time she noticed there was no mirror anywhere in the huge closet.)

About halfway to the dessert table, a foofy-haired blond man appeared in her way, a smile gleaming beneath his intricate goblin mask. Tamaki.

"Good evening, princess. Allow me to introduce myself. I am—"

"No one of importance," two voices chipped in. The Cheshire twins pushed their president away. "Don't mind him. He's always like that."

"I'm Kaoru," one said politely. "I don't think I've seen you around…" As funny as it was, she was torn between telling them or not. If it was just Tamaki, she would have— and was going to— set him straight. But the twins were finally talking to her again.

"Say," Hikaru spoke up, trying to keep Tamaki from having another chance at talking, "is your next major free?"

Just then she felt gloved hands on both her shoulders and heard Kyouya say, "Hikaru, Kaoru, don't you have all your majors full, anyway?" And before they could protest, he pushed her through the rest of the crowd to an opening on one side of the dessert table (Kasanoda was at the other end).

"I must say, this suits you. At least better than those dead bird gowns." Their attention was caught by the orchestra readying for the next song.

"Save me a dance," Kyouya said before disappearing into the crowd. Of course she knew he meant a minor, but as she made her way up the dessert table, every single guy that asked her to dance meant the next major.

Kasanoda, dressed as a raggedy, swash-buckling pirate (brilliant red hair and a dark brown beard) turned when someone tapped his shoulder. He stopped chewing, half a meron pan sticking out of his mouth when he saw her: a girl with a deep blue, thin-strapped dress. The top had a wide, powder blue stripe down the front with a blue ribbon crisscrossed over it to resemble a corset. Her skirt was to the floor and resembling a southern belle's the way it was swaying and had a bit of roushing in the back. Her hair, in long, wide curls fell halfway down her back, and her mask was possibly the most unique one there. Half of it was a similar dark blue with sparse sparkles, but the other side had an old European half moon, the points of which extended far above and below the mask itself. The moon's eye was the eye hole on that side and its nose extended over hers.

Kasanoda continued to stare.

"Kasanoda-kun, you're my partner for this major… and it's already started."

He looked at her as if he recognized the voice yet could not place it.

Halfway through the dance, though, he figured it out.

"Where'd you get the dress?" was the first thing he asked.

"Kyouya-sempai," she smiled. "I actually kind of like it."

"Oh… is that why he's been staring at me this whole time?"

Haruhi turned to look, but with so many bright, colorful costumes, she could not pick out his blatantly red one. So she asked, "How could you tell, anyway?" The yakuza son gave a slight shiver, more evident in the fake parrot on his shoulder than anything else.

"I'd know his glare anywhere."

This was true.

The rest of the long dance was spent in silence, mostly because Kasanoda could not think of anything to say and Haruhi of course did not mind the silence. The piece ended and the dancers applauded.

"I'm… really glad you wore a dress," he began, then quickly, bashfully added, "Well, y'know… it might've been awkward two guys dancing… and my men wouldn't let me come in a dress and—" He instantly stopped there and Haruhi giggled.

"I'm sure two guys dancing wouldn't be too strange a sight, though," she said thoughtfully, thinking mainly of Renge's otaku reaction. Kasanoda looked around at all the boy-girl pairs waiting for the next minor.

"Yeah… sure. Say, um… can I dance with you again?"

Haruhi was about to agree when a lion spirit pounced on her.

"Haru-chan! You're _beautiful_!" squealed Hani. "I know we've got the next major, but can I dance with you now?" he asked with a pout that showed through his face paint. Of course Haruhi could not resist.

It was her plan to return to the changing closet after that so she could dance with the girls (she could hear them already questioning where she was), but somehow she kept getting stopped by different boys to dance. Haruhi could see Tamaki and the twins around, always glancing back at her trying to discover her identity, but Mori passed once as she danced with a boy from her class and commented that this one looked better than the Zeus costume.

Near the end of the hour Haruhi reached the hallway and thought she had finally made it out when a frighteningly familiar voice froze her in her tracks.

"Hello, fair maiden. At long last we meet again." Haruhi turned to find a tall blond in an old European princely uniform with a breastplate and armored shoulders, white, billowy cape (quite a feat with no wind), sword hanging from a belt, bejeweled white mask, and sparkle vision all around. This person was too much like Tamaki to be anyone but Benio.

The Zuka Club member dropped to one knee and grasped Haruhi's hand.

"You are far too beautiful for this wasteland! Come away with me my princess, and we shall live happily ever after." She kissed Haruhi's hand and re-posed to monologue some more. "Believe me, I did not expect myself to act thusly right when I arrived. I thought I would watch and woo slowly, all night if I had to—"

"This dance only lasts until one," Haruhi informed her quickly, but Benio did not hear her.

"But the moment I saw your loveliness, I couldn't help myself! You are even more beautiful than I remember!"

A sizeable group had gathered to watch and murmurings of "Lady Oscar!" could be heard. Benio artistically rattled off more flattery, which sounded like she was finding new ways of repeating herself while sneaking in as many pick-up lines as she could.

Finally, after about two minutes of this, a samurai stepped up next to Haruhi and rested his own sword on Benio's forearm. Mori's dancing partner, a regular designator (dressed as an English queen), was standing nearby. She did not look perturbed at losing her dance, but rather captivated like all the other onlookers by the elegant, bishoujo manga-esque scene.

The red Phantom of the Opera stepped in front of Haruhi and Benio stood to match his belittling gaze.

"How embarrassing," he began almost pleasantly. "I can't seem to recall sending any invitations to Lobellia Academy. I would hate to assume you were crashing our ball." Haruhi peered out from behind Kyouya to see Benio without any former trace of gallantry.

"I'm only here to renew our offer of an admission to our school."

"Do you mean your entourage is lurking around here, too?"

"What's wrong, Ootori-kun? Feeling threatened?"

Kyouya sneered. "Just don't cause any trouble… like kidnapping one of our club members." And with that he and Mori returned to the party. Benio's flamboyant smile popped back in place once it was just she and Haruhi (in the middle of all the onlookers), but before she could break into another monologue (or break into song), Hani tackled his clubmate.

"There you are! It's time for our major!" he announced triumphantly. "Let's go dancing by the pool on the roof, doesn't that sound _fun_?"

"Which one—"

"Maiden!" Benio cried, grasping her arm. "When can I have a moment with you?"

"Well, I'm going to be dancing all night…"

"I'll take your next major!" she demanded, proudly thinking she had barbarically seized the dance from someone else. Haruhi blinked.

"Okay." That slot was free anyway.

-----

When the crowd saw a host they recognized headed elsewhere to dance, they found this a novel idea and followed. So by nearly halfway through the ball, students were finally taking advantage of the "school-wide" part of the event.

"Have you seen Renge-chan?" Hani spoke up as they waltzed (none too well). Haruhi shook her head.

"She's trying to dance a major with all of us… isn't that funny? There are six majors and seven of us!" ("Dance with me!" Renge told the twins, holding one of their hands in each of hers. The brothers slithered out of her grasp. "No way! Stop assaulting us! You can't dance with two people at once. Tono, we're being harassed!") And Hani laughed. "She wanted to dance this one with me but nope! Because I remembered I was supposed to be Haru-chan's partner. Isn't this fun?"

Haruhi smiled. "It is." Even the rooftop pool was enchanting with the candelabras, the exciting music drifting from the orchestra on a nearby rooftop, and the glittery, shimmering sparkles in the pool. She was entertained by Hani's story of dancing twice with the girl dressed as ootoro until the song ended, at which point she noticed other girls nearby looking for her. Haruhi told Hani she had to change and ten minutes later was back in the main ballroom as Zeus. The twins, probably looking for the moon girl, pretended to ignore her as they walked by.

Her designators, however, were much nicer and almost paid too much attention to Haruhi as they danced. Halfway though the hour, the host finally got to take a break by ducking behind a couple, one dressed as a wolf and the other a sheep, as they left the ballroom.

The exhausted girl just meant to sit on the first deserted staircase she found for a few minutes to catch her breath since she had been on her feet nearly three hours straight. And it really _had_ only felt like a few minuets had slipped by when someone in a bright costume and sun mask shook her awake. However, looking at the grandfather clock on the wall behind him, she saw it was eleven.

"The next major!" Haruhi cried, jumping up. She issued a hurried "thank you" to her waker before rushing back to the main ballroom. If Benio's character was supposed to be a Lady, then it would be fine for Haruhi to stay in her boy costume. However, when she looked for the blond prince she was surprised to find a lady with blond hair pulled up and a wide French dress approach her. It was the same bejeweled mask. ("Kyouyaaa! If _she_ can change costumes in the middle of the ball, why can't I?!" wailed Tamaki.)

"Fair maiden, my only request before I leave this evening is to see you once more as the Lady of the Moon," Benio said dramatically, grabbing Haruhi's hands in a feminine way.

"And who are you supposed to be?" asked the host, one eyebrow raised.

"Marie Antoinette. But had I just _imagined_ what those chauvinists would dress you as, I could've guessed to come as Hera!" Haruhi almost tripped.

Benio led Haruhi into the outside courtyard as the major started and they began a smoother waltz than the host had danced with Hani.

"Um, Benio-san… shouldn't _I_ be leading?"

"Oh, if you must." They switched hands and danced on in silence for a while. Benio stared down at Haruhi in a sultry kind of way, which was excruciatingly awkward to Haruhi and somehow slightly offensive. So she struck up a conversation.

"I think you said you wanted to speak to me about something?"

"Ah, yes," the Zuka Club member announced, twirling Haruhi ("How did you end up leading again?"). "I came to renew my sentiments, which haven't changed since episode nine (or nineteen), and hope that you have had a change of mind… or a change of heart." As she talked, she slowly drew Haruhi closer. "You do not belong here. You could be appreciated, understood at Lobellia. Your true potential could finally be realized."

They stopped dancing then, but Haruhi stood her ground.

"I'd like to think that I'll reach my potential through any course of life I take, though it might be a different potential than I would find at Lobellia's, it would still be the one I'm meant to have."

Benio looked genuinely hurt (an amazing feat since a mask was covering half her face. Haruhi was impressed). "So there's no chance of you coming?"

"I'm sorry to disappoint you," the host said sympathetically, "but I still think I belong here." Benio gave a theatrical sigh, nodding. Then, in one swift move she flung her arms around Haruhi's back and tipped her over.

"In that case, I'll take a farewell kiss to remember you by… and your cell phone number, if you don't mind." The third year practically dive-bombed for Haruhi's face, but all she hit was a gloved hand— expensive, but not the same. The host scrambled free and Benio straightened, expecting to bite the head off of Tamaki or Kyouya, but she instead found the sun costume there.

"This isn't your business!" she snapped haughtily. The man, who had a fancy tuxedo of various shades and brightness levels of yellow, a similar cape, blond hair, and a white mask with sun spikes sticking out in all directions, somehow seemed dark and threatening. The man lunged forward a pace and Benio jumped back from him.

"You may have won this round, Suoh, but I _will_ get that kiss!"

Haruhi's shoulders slumped as Benio sprinted (elegantly) away (in her ridiculously huge hoop skirt, no less; at the sight of this feat, Ouran students applauded). "So _that's_ what she was after this whole time? That would figure." After a disappointed sigh, the girl smiled up at her rescuer. It was obviously not Tamaki, she decided, because the costume was too sophisticated.

"Thank you for helping me," Haruhi said with a polite bob of her head. Finally he looked her in the eye and recognition spread across her face. "My next major is free, and they've given me a girl's costume, too, Umehito-sempai."

"I've been warned by just about all your friends to stay away from you," he replied quickly in a business-like tone.

"Well, most of the guys don't even know it was me in my other dress, so there's no way they'll notice you," she said in her normal, blunt way, though she found it hard trying to overcome the wall he had erected. "Really, I mainly came to this because you said awhile ago you wanted to come, and I thought I could keep you company." When Nekozawa did not give a reply, Haruhi asked, "Have you been dancing with many girls?"

"None, though Renge's been chasing me since I got here." The sound of applause reached them and Haruhi realized the major was over.

"I should get back to the party, but I would be honored to dance with you in the next hour. You can tell me how your test went," she said nicely (yet authoritatively) before hurrying back inside.

For the next half hour she danced with whichever girl seized her first with only one break, and when the latest song ended she snuck off to the third music room to change. It was much easier handling boys for partners than girls: the former were much calmer. So Haruhi bravely strode down the club wing on her way back toward the ballroom now that she was free of being waylaid by girls (and it didn't matter that the hallway was deserted anyway).

About halfway there, someone caught her hand and spun her around. A white mask stared back.

"Do you have any dances still available?"

Haruhi smirked. "How about this one, sempai?"

Kyouya was an even better dancer than Benio as he led her through unfamiliar steps. They wandered down the deserted hallway to the faint music weaving in from the ballroom, twirling, twisting, and stepping to the beat. Finally the vice president spoke up.

"How has the night gone so far?"

"I'm thoroughly exhausted," sighed the girl, nearly missing stepping on Kyouya's foot. "But it's been fun. Have you danced with Renge yet?"

"No. Luck's on my side tonight, apparently— I barely escaped when I saw her coming." They happened into the empty grand ballet room where one wall was made up mostly of large windows and the other three all mirrors. With candelabras in only the corners, lights and shadows jumped and reflected sporadically about the room as if they were participating in their own kind of dance.

"Sempai, I've been meaning to ask about Tamaki."

"Hm?" was his reply as he twirled her into him and then back out.

"He was acting strangely earlier, trying to give me a talk about loving anyone I wanted… what did he mean?"

Kyouya gave a slight chuckle. "He probably heard the twins when they were telling me about finding you and Nekozawa in that compromising situation. It would figure he'd go off and do something without gathering all the facts first."

"So what did he think?"

"My guess is he heard the part of you liking someone you shouldn't and figured that to be himself." At Haruhi's giggle, he added, "It would do that idiot well to come out of his own little world more often."

Although it slipped their attention, a new song had started, not much different, but slower. It was not until a minute or so later that Haruhi finally built up the courage to say, "At least Tamaki-sempai is fine with people from any station in life being together."

"Is that honestly still bothering you?" Kyouya asked in somewhat of a humored growl. Haruhi frowned.

"Why shouldn't it? Business should be the last incentive in marriage."

Kyouya spun her around once before grabbing her shoulders. "All I meant was she has to be able to support herself. Personally, I wouldn't care if that meant she would become the CEO of her father's corporation… or the newest lawyer in an obscure firm." And he started dancing again. "Just as long as she doesn't rely solely on me."

"Your priorities are still off," she argued, to which his smirked.

"We'll see."

The song ended a minute or so later and Kyouya bowed. Without a word, he turned in a flurry of red cape and marched out; Haruhi followed after a moment.

She returned to the main ballroom and searched for Nekozawa, but it was hard to find his bright costume among the sea of girly sparkles. It was also difficult when a different boy approached her and asked her to dance every two seconds. Far too much hassle to go through only to find the dessert table devoid of Nekozawa. Haruhi checked the nearby corners and any place with dark shadows (while fending off hopeful partners), but he was nowhere to be found.

"We run into each other again," purred a voice from behind. Haruhi knew it was Tamaki before she even turned around. He was looking decidedly suave now.

"Let me introduce myself properly. I am—"

"Sempai, it's me," she sighed tiredly. Tamaki glanced around quickly before realizing the voice came from the moon girl. And he jumped.

"_You're_ the moon princess everyone's been talking about?" he cried in an unrefined squeak. "So who's the sun prince— Benio?!"

"No, she left—"

"Benio was _here_?! I was being sarcastic!"

"Sempai!" Haruhi cut in before he could rant. "When's the last time people saw the sun prince?"

"Personally, I haven't seen him," he began in a storyteller air, Benio completely forgotten. "Some say he glows just like the morning sun, others say-"

"Never mind!" huffed the girl and marched away, leaving him to prattle on, oblivious. On a hunch, Haruhi headed out of the main ballroom and wandered back to the staircase she napped on earlier. There in the shadows sat the sun.

"Where's Bereznoff?" she asked softly as not to startle him.

"On Kirimi. I think they went to get something to eat," he mumbled. He did not move to get up, so Haruhi sat next to him.

"Do you have anyone to dance with for the major?"

"I didn't come here to dance," was his immediate reply.

"Then why are you here?"

He hesitated. "Kirimi wanted to come." Although Haruhi tried, she could not stop a laugh form escaping. A long laugh.

"That's something that would only fool Tamaki-sempai," the girl said once she caught her breath. "Really, why are you so scared of my friends?"

"They not-so-subtly threatened to ruin my father's business." The faintest pout was visible beneath his mask and it made Haruhi smile sympathetically.

"I wouldn't let them do anything to your family," she told him firmly, resting a hand on his arm. "And anyway, they're more scared of _you_."

Nekozawa finally looked at her. "Really?"

"Absolutely."

"Scared?"

"Terrified," Haruhi said with a nod. All of a sudden, they heard a new, energetic waltz-y song start and Haruhi informed him this was the major. Across from them the grandfather clock struck midnight.

"And why dwell so much on what others think?" she added with a shrug. "I've heard your father didn't."

It took a moment for all this to really sink in, but once it did, Nekozawa bounded off the staircase, pulling Haruhi behind him. And they started dancing right there. The president was surprisingly fluid in his movements— enough to rival even Kyouya or Benio, and Haruhi liked it best how he held her. Maybe it was because she was already attached, but she liked the growing familiarity of his arms and felt like she never wanted to let go. Now she would not even mind if rose vision burst out all around them for the rest of the song.

"Haruhi?" Nekozawa murmured after the longest silence.

"Yes?"

"Your hair smells nice."

"…Thank you?" And the silence returned in full. Not much later, several random couples passing by stopped to watch. They decided Nekozawa and Haruhi had to have come together, since they were the sun and the moon, and they must have been royal transfer students, because the onlookers had no idea who they were (and their costumes made them squee with awe). And of course, a story that unbelievable spread through the nearby ballroom like the newest edition of a popular manga. The hall soon was packed with spectators who made good use of the stairs as stadium seating. The two dancers, however, were oblivious (rose vision dangerously impedes regular vision) and they wandered further down the hall, the onlookers making room for them to waltz by.

Tamaki stood on his tiptoes to see around a feathery headdress. "Kyouya, who's that dancing with my daughter?"

"Your soon-to-be son-in-law?" And Tamaki fainted.

-----

Nekozawa and Haruhi somehow danced all the way to the roof, and by then, all the watchers had given up following them, even if it was a spectacularly moe scene.

It seemed far too soon when the major (and rose vision) ended, and the two just stood there, the sparkling pool reflecting off their costumes. Finally Nekozawa spoke up.

"How'd you know about my father?"

"Kyouya-sempai told me. And I thought it was sweet," she said with a smile. They began aimlessly wandering around the pool. A new song had started, though neither noticed; it somehow blended into the background.

"Although I won't get my test back until Monday, I know I did better than before, and it's all thanks to you, Haruhi," he said.

"You were the one who had to learn everything," replied the girl modestly. "I'm glad you passed. I'm sure your family will be, too."

"They want to invite you over for dinner again," Nekozawa mentioned, smiling, "to thank you. And I want to show my appreciation, too."

"Really, it's fine. I still have that keychain… at home."

The president snickered. "That's not what I meant," he murmured, swinging her around in front of him. Hands on her waist, he pulled her right up against himself and kissed her.

-----

Kirimi, Bereznoff on her arm, was peering onto the roof from the only doorway and giggled. Her Sailor Moon wig bobbed with each laugh while Berenzoff hid his face. He was dressed in a wig, school uniform, and round glasses (and vehemently arguing he was _not_ a Potter Puppet Pal).

"Isn't this exciting?" she whispered to the cat. "Just like _A Faraway Dream_ #3!" Though he was trying his hardest not to watch, Bereznoff had to agree.

-----

A while later Haruhi finally returned to the main ballroom in her Zeus costume, a pleasant smile cemented on her face. All the designators clamoring for her attention did not seem so annoying anymore, and when the last major arrived, dancing with Renge (dressed as Asuka from Evangelion) was tolerable. It was long, since she recounted her entire ball experience for the whole duration of the dance, but tolerable.

By the end, Haruhi was dragging her feet as all the ladies sent her their goodbyes, and the hosts politely set aside any confrontation with her for another day. The seniors offered to drive her home, but because Hani was even more exhausted, Mori ended up carrying both of them to their limo.

And Haruhi slept the whole way home.

-----

Well, was it worth the wait? Usually I write 6 or 7 pages in my little notebook, but this took 16. SIXTEEN. I just couldn't stop writing! I was intending on making the dance with Renge more important, but I seriously wanted to end the chapter. DX I also had to take out a plot element… so we'll see if I can squeeze it in next chapter.

And how'd you like the sudden (and only) appearance of Benio?! Bwaha.


	9. The End and Ever After

**a.n.** Apologies! I'm sorry it took so long. A combination of no interest plus lots of homework makes it hard to update. My bad. But I even threw in an epilogue, 'cause I made you all wait so long. Hope you enjoy the end of Masquerade, and thinks for reading it all!

**Chapter 9**

For the first time in her life, Haruhi slept in till nearly noon. Her father was at work for most of the day, so when she slumped into the kitchen in her pajamas, so was startled to find two identical faces staring at her.

"Seriously, guys," Haruhi said with a yawn, "you need to give that spare key back." She shuffled over to the fridge, making them move out of her way. "How long have you been here?"

"Twenty minutes or so," replied Kaoru as they followed her into the little living room. Haruhi sat down to eat random leftovers and the twins settled across from her.

"So why are you here?" she finally asked when they kept silent.

"What's this… Nekozawa thing?" Hikaru questioned after a moment. Haruhi glanced up at them and took in the fact that they were utterly serious before replying.

"Nekozawa is a friend… a good friend. I like spending time with him." The twin' expressions were flat.

"But you'll stop seeing him now, right?" Kaoru asked suddenly. Haruhi put her chopsticks down and considered both the twins and the question for awhile.

"I don't have to tutor him anymore, but he's still my friend."

"Nekozawa doesn't have any friends," snorted Hikaru, folding his arms across his chest.

"Then all the more reason for me to keep visiting him… to make sure he's not lonely," replied the girl matter-of-factly. Kaoru not so subtly elbowed Hikaru. The twins fell silent, no doubt forming a new plan of attack, and Haruhi finished her breakfast in peace.

"Next time you go see Nekozawa, we're coming, too," Hikaru spoke up as Haruhi began cleaning up the dishes. The girl gave a humored snort and the twins followed her back into the kitchen.

"Only if you don't try to scare him, or threaten him, or bully him," she replied. Haruhi set the dishes in the sink and headed back toward her room. Passing the refrigerator, she noticed the fancy invitation and (finally) took it down, but instead of dropping it into the garbage can, she refolded it carefully and took it with her.

The twins tried to follow her into her room, but she closed the door in their faces.

"Why do you think so badly of us?" Kaoru almost whined. "You always side with Nekozawa and make us out to be villains." Hikaru nodded his approval and gave his brother the thumbs up.

"You two _always_ think badly of Nekozawa-sempai," came her reply from somewhere away from the door. "Maybe you should get to know him before judging him so severely. He's somewhat like you two guys before joining the club."

"How do you know that's what we were like then?" Kaoru retorted almost defensively.

"I've heard stories."

The twins were silent for a moment, staring straight ahead, straight into their memories.

"It's not the club that made us change," Hikaru muttered loud enough for his brother to hear. A moment later the door slid open and Haruhi stepped out, dressed in yet another cute skirt. She was almost glaring.

"I am utterly serious when I say I want my real clothes back."

The twins exchanged glances. Kaoru said quickly, "Kyouya would know their whereabouts better than us."

"And you actually put ensembles together nicely for not having good clothes much," complemented Hikaru, looking her up and down.

Haruhi continued to stare judgmentally as she stepped out of her room. They followed her as she went to kneel in front of her mother's shrine.

"So, when are you going to visit Whatchamacallit?" Hikaru mumbled, shoulders bent and hands in his pockets.

"Today."

Kaoru looked like he was about to punch something. "When?"

"Whenever I'm picked up," Haruhi said after a slight hesitation. The twins exchanged glances, silently conferring, and the girl was left in peace for several moments to speak to her mother.

"How much… how much do you like him?" Hikaru forced out.

"Well he's nice and funny and kind, he takes care of his sister and respects his parents… I really like him." Haruhi stood and slipped between the twins over to the fridge, making a note for her father.

"Are you thinking of getting together?" asked Hikaru, his tone pure disgust. Haruhi's writing slowed considerably.

"We haven't made any plans like that…"

"Good," he muttered, stomping for the front door, "because if you do, _we're_ out of the club." Kaoru silently followed. They closed the door with a less angsty _bam!_ Than Haruhi was expecting, but it still rattled free-standing objects in the house. The girl gave an exasperated shake of her head, yet pushed the thought out of her head long enough to finish the note.

Twenty minutes or so later, there was a knock on the door. Kyouya smiled unenthusiastically when Haruhi entered and immediately the girl began checking for Tamaki.

"He's not here," the vice president announced curtly.

"But it seems the whole club's visiting me today, so if we wait a bit longer…"

Her sarcasm was interrupted when Kyouya remarked, "I'm on my way to Nekozawa's and I told him I'd pick you up. Apparently you had a… dinner date today?" Haruhi nodded slowly, her mouth shut tight. Kyouya moved to the side, one hand pointing invitingly to the stairs to the street.

"My limo awaits."

Haruhi sent him a questioning glance but got her purse and locked the door after her. Dropping the key into her purse, she said, "You know, you should really take the key back from Hikaru and Kaoru. They're not very responsible with it." Kyouya slowed as he followed her down the stairs.

"What are you talking about? They gave me that spare back a few days ago." Haruhi turned to look up at him so quickly that she nearly fell down the rest of the steps.

"They have their own key to my house?!"

Kyouya put up his hands appeasingly. "I'll talk to them about it." With a huff, the girl climbed into the limo past the waiting chauffer, muttering something about "boundaries" and "unwelcome guests."

There was no further conversation during the ride to Nekozawa's. Their limo stopped near the front door, the last in a series of dark stretch limos, and once Haruhi stepped out, she pointed to the closest vehicle.

"Is that… that isn't…"

"It looks like Hani-sempai's," Kyouya stated plainly, walking coolly to the front door without a second glance around. Haruhi followed slowly, scanning over the rest of the parked limos as Kyouya rung the door bell.

"Is _everyone_ here?" she scoffed. The vice president looked back at her indifferently, hands in his pockets.

"Well, lately there _has_ been quite a bit of interest in Nekozawa going around the club. And considering how curious and utterly brainless Tamaki and the twins are, it's quite possible."

"But the seniors' limo—"

Just then Kuritake, the pig-tailed maid, answered the door, giving a polite bow. "Ootori-sama. It is a pleasure to see you again." She opened the door wider and Kyouya entered, Haruhi on his heels.

"Obocchama is in the library," the maid told them quietly. Kyouya motioned for Haruhi to lead the way and the two left the main hall.

The library was dimly lit with the familiar glow of tall candlesticks on the long table, a hunched-over Nekozawa hidden by a particularly ornate candelabra.

"Sempai?" Haruhi greeted slowly. The president jumped, nearly knocking over a nearby free-standing candelabra.

"Oh, hello, Haruhi!" He quickly leaned over to peer around the candelabra and instantly his face fell when he saw Kyouya, too.

The Shadow King smirked at that. "I believe you were expecting me, too, Nekozawa-sempai?"

"Yes, yes. Of course, Ootori-kun. Please, have a seat."

With a perfectly executed smile, Kyouya sat across from Umehito, inquiring. "How have you been feeling lately? I heard you had been experiencing mysterious pains recently."

"Oh, that," Nekozawa said, his creepy grin cracking his face. He pushed the candelabra to the side to look straight at Kyouya and continued wit a storyteller-like air: "Bereznoff and I were utterly confounded when I began feeling excruciating pain in my arms, back, legs, and head. I thought one of my clubmates had failed terribly at casting a curse, but then I realized the pain only afflicted me terribly when I was being tutored by you, Haruhi."

The girl stiffened at the sudden attention of Nekozawa's gaze and Kyouya's subtle glance out of the corner of his eye.

Nekozawa almost chuckled. "What really gave it away was when I started hurting in my— well," he paused to clear his throat quickly. "I determined it was a voodoo doll and sent my underlings out searching during my last tutoring session… and do you know who they found?"

Neither Kyouya nor Haruhi made any indication they were too curious about it, but a minute later when Nekozawa was still silent, Kyouya finally asked, "Who?"

"Kasanoda-kun!"

Haruhi's eyes widened and she barely stifled a gasp. Kyouya arched a brow.

"Was it your voodoo doll he purchased… to use on you?" he asked. Nekozawa's head sunk slightly.

"He bought two. But my underlings learned from him that he didn't know who Haruhi was tutoring, so the curses were much less painful than they could have been."

"But, if he didn't know who he was trying to hurt…" Haruhi spoke up.

"He vaguely knew. He had written 'Haruhi's student' on the back, which still hurt me, but not as badly as if my name had been written on the doll," Nekozawa explained.

"And what of Kasanoda? What did you do to him?" asked Kyouya.

Nekozawa chuckled again. "He has a threat of torment and disparity through five generations hanging over his head, so I doubt he'll bother me. Though I hope he does… it's been a long time since I cast that curse."

Kyouya turned slightly to Haruhi, motioning to the door in his subtle manner. "If you don't mind, Nekozawa-sempai and I have things to discuss." When the Black Magic club president made no protest, Haruhi gave a small bob of her head and exited.

Once back in the spacious, dim hallway, it didn't take long for the girl to find something to do with herself because Kirimi pounced on her from behind, nearly tackling her.

"Gariben!" she giggled and stuffed Bereznoff in Haruhi's face. "We're taking a break right now, but we're on _A Faraway Dream_ #10! You'll definitely love it! Come on!" She jumped off Haruhi's back, took her hand and led her to the play room.

The two seniors were waiting on a puffy, expensive couch, Hani chatting about what he expected to happen later on in the manga as Mori nodded automatically, when Kirimi led in her new captive. Hani brightened even more— if that was possible.

"Haru-chan! We were wondering when you'd get here!" She was plopped down between Mori and Hani and Kirimi climbed onto Mori's lap. Through in an effort to better see _A Faraway Dream_, she slowly, deliberately encroached on Haruhi's lap. A moment of silence followed and Haruhi glanced at Hani, holder of the _Dream_.

"Um, sempai?"

"Don't worry, they'll be back _any_ second now," he replied with a smile, pleasantly swinging his legs.

"DON'T START WITHOUT US!" voices from the hall shouted. The next moment, two redheads darted into the room and dived for the empty space on the other side of Hani. Hikaru shoved his brother close to the arm of the couch.

"My turn! You got closest seat earlier!" Kaoru playfully struggled back, but once the twins noticed the extra audience member, they halted, smiles instantly dropping.

A second later Tamaki flounced in, calling, "This is the most exciting story I have ever chanced upon! We should have a costume day devoted entirely to _A Faraway Dream_! I'll be Taro!" He squished in between Haruhi and Hani, only noticing the girl because of the twins' obviously pointed stares.

"Haruhi!" he cried, hugging her. "You've come at the best part!" And he posed in anticipation.

Haruhi suffered through the rest of the novel, which she probably could have read by herself in ten minutes, but with Hani's narrating and acting, it lasted more like a half hour.

When the story was over, as if on cue, the pigtailed maid entered the room to announce it was time for dinner. The hosts, carrying Kirimi, hurried to the large dining room. Haruhi followed much slower, and as she passed the library, the door opened and Kyouya stepped out. His only acknowledgment was a glance flashed at her before heading for the dining room. Haruhi was about to follow when she heard Nekozawa call her name.

"Yes?" she responded, sticking her head into the library. Nekozawa was standing next to the table, awkwardly fiddling with the corner of a book lying there.

"Come in, please."

Haruhi closed the door behind her. "Is something wrong?"

"Kyouya and I came to an agreement," he said slowly, his full attention on the book next to him. "And we… you and I… can't… we can't go on like this." His voice was increasingly turning into a whisper. "I'm sorry."

Haruhi took a bold step forward. "He threatened you, didn't he? With his private police or with bankrupting your family…" Nekozawa looked up finally, a hint of amusement on his sorrowful features and the girl quieted.

"No, no. It's nothing like that," he replied soothingly, even letting a small chuckle slip. "It's just business."

Haruhi stifled a gasp, all the outrage from Kyouya's worldview of business rushing back to her. Just like he would approve of a marriage for the sake of merging companies, he would also break people apart to keep companies separate. Was he her father now, deciding all these things for her?

"This isn't for Kyouya to determine!" Haruhi burst out, cheeks flushing. "It's not his life!"

"Our clubs can't be seen with one another too often. Everyone would notice and start talking," Nekozawa said calmly. "I mean, I have a reputation to uphold… I can't be seen with hosts like Tamaki-kun."

His smirk at the end made Haruhi prompt, "Was that another one of your jokes?"

Nekozawa neared her and put his hands on her shoulders. "Listen, this is the best option to take to uphold both our clubs."

"But… you're my— my friend. Who can tell us we can't see each other?" Haruhi's cheeks were still flushed from the insult of it all.

"We travel in different circles, that's just how it goes. Kyouya approached me to discuss this, but I had already known it for awhile…"

"Aren't we friends?" Haruhi chirped immediately.

Nekozawa chuckled. "I think we crossed over into something else awhile ago. But we will always be friends. And once you're out of Ouran high school, give me a call…"

"You have a cell phone?" Haruhi questioned almost incredulously.

"Oh, no, but I have a wide variety of carrier pigeons that are very reliable."

The girl could not stop a snicker from growling into a sweet laugh that was soon muffled in Nekozawa's shoulder when he pulled her into a hug. After a moment, she hugged back.

"I'll miss you, Haruhi, but I'll see you around school still." The girl kept her mouth shut. She wanted to continue the debate that business should not control people's personal life, but it would be no use. Is she changed Nekozawa's mind, she would still have Kyouya to convince. So she surrendered the battle.

They held each other for about a minute until Haruhi's cell phone rang. She sighed, muttering something about the interfering clubmates as she fished through her purse for her phone. Nekozawa let go when she answered.

"Hello? Oh… dad. No, I'm at a friend's house—I left you a note." Haruhi vented another sigh. "On the fridge. Yes… I'm fine, the hosts are here, too." Frantic chattering came from the other end of the line. "Kyouya-sempai's here, too." The chattering calmed. "Okay… yeah. Bye, dad." The girl gave a frustrated huff, dropping the cell back into her purse, and she noticed Nekozawa smirking at her. "…What?"

"You kept the keychain." He indicated the red Bereznoff that dangled from the cell and that had failed to follow the phone inside. It hung proudly (scarily?), draped over the side of her purse.

"Oh, I like red," Haruhi said quickly. Nekozawa gave a grin that Renge could base an entire yaoi fanfic on, and Haruhi felt the color return to her cheeks. She also felt Nekozawa entwine his fingers in hers.

"I'm glad." They stood there for a bit before he added, "We should go eat. They're probably waiting on us." He walked around her and began to lead her by the hand toward the doors. Haruhi stopped.

"If we're still friends, then I can come visit you at school once in awhile… and we can study together sometimes, right?"

He squeezed her hand. "Of course. This isn't stopping our relationship… it's still just beginning." He leaned over and kissed her forehead before exiting the library with her.

Haruhi smiled on her way to dinner. It was fine that they would be kept from exploring their relationship any further, because, while she was dedicated to the Host club, a friendship was probably all she had time for. And unlike the younger hosts, who hid their shallowness under a façade of chivalry and etiquette, Nekozawa, under all his creepiness, was truly a gentle spirit. He genuinely cared for his family, clubmates, and now cared for Haruhi. And as long as she could remain in his gentleness, she would be happy.

Everyone was seated at the long table when Nekozawa and Haruhi entered, no longer holding hands. For the couple of minutes the hosts had been waiting, they were entertained by the father's stories. Hani, Tamaki, and the twins were genuinely enthralled; Mori was interested; Kyouya faked it expertly.

All during dinner the twins cast disapproving glances at Nekozawa, and Kyouya watched hi m like a hawk. Haruhi couldn't help but sympathize. Nekozawa was certainly different, but he didn't deserve their scorn. When he glanced her way, she gave him a reassuring smile. No matter what the selfish hosts did or said, they could not stop Haruhi from being Nekozawa's friend.

And in a few years, who knew what all else?

--

(epilogue)

Ranka hummed to himself as he danced through the door, returning home early some random weekend afternoon. He stopped dead in his tracks when he entered, because although it was still the afternoon, it was somehow very cold and creepy in the house.

He heard his daughter's mirthful laugh coming from the dining room and ran to investigate. What he found in there made him shriek. Sitting across the table from his daughter, draped in black, was something… alive. It seemed to even be oozing blackness because, in the decently lit room, the area around… the thing… was shadowy. Shadowy for no reason. The windows were covered, but that alone couldn't produce that much unnatural darkness.

At his shriek, both his daughter and the unidentifiable mass looked over at him. Eyes gleamed menacingly (were they eyes? Or soul-stealers?) out from under its hood.

Ranka yanked a charm from the depths of his purse and threw it at the blackness, shouting, "Demon, BE GONE!"

Before it even hit it, the shadowy figure gave a fearful yelp and darted under the table.

"Dad!" Haruhi shouted when he whipped out his can of pepper spray. "This is Nekozawa-sempai— he's a schoolmate— don't attack him!"

Ranka stopped trying to force the huddled boy out from under the table and laughed nervously. "Oh… a human student? Why didn't you say so? Sorry, sweetie." He returned the pepper spray to his purse. "How 'bout I go make tea for everyone?" And he flounced back to the kitchen as if nothing had happened.

Nekozawa cautiously crawled out from under the table, though Bereznoff wanted to stay hidden. He shook on Nekozawa's hand.

"Th-that's your… dad?" he asked slowly.

Haruhi nodded. "Yep. Usually he's not this cool about strangers. I'm kind of surprised." She looked back at their game of cards on the table. "Whose turn?"

Nekozawa petted Bereznoff, trying to soothe him. "You're joking, right?"

"No. But then again he's usually just bad around Tamaki. You should have nothing to worry about."

"He attacked me with a charm! Those things hurt!"

"I actually thought he would've first tried holy water. But you're fine. I think he likes you," Haruhi chirped. Nekozawa eyed the water Ranka was boiling as Ranka eyed him back.

"If you say so, Haruhi-kun…"

"So, whose turn?"


End file.
